Cost of In-patient Management of Covid-19 Patients in a Tertiary Hospital in Kuwait

BackgroundAmong the GCC countries affected by COVID-19 infections, Kuwait was impacted with 658,520 cases and 2,563 deaths as reported by WHO on September 30, 2022. However, the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the economy of Kuwait especially in health sector is unknown. ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to determine the total cost of COVID-19 in-patient management in Kuwait. MethodRetrospective design was employed in this study. A total 485 Covid-19 patients admitted to a tertiary hospital assigned to manage Covid-19 cases was randomly selected for this study from 1st May to 31st September 2021. Data on sociodemographic, length of stay (LOS), discharge status and comorbidity were obtained from the patients medical records. Among others, data on cost in this study cover administration, utility, pharmacy, radiology, laboratory, nursing, and ICU costs. The unit cost per admission was imputed using a step-down costing method with three levels of cost centers. The unit cost was multiplied by the individual patients length of stay to obtain the cost of care per patient per admission. FindingsThe mean cost of Covid-19 inpatient per episode of care was KD 2,216 (SD=2,018) equals to US$ 7,344 (SD=6,688) with the average length of stay of 9.4 (SD=8.5) days per admission. The total treatment costs of Covid-19 inpatient (n=485) were estimated to be KD 1,074,644 (US$ 3,561,585), in which the physician and nursing care cost were the largest share of costs (42.1%) with KD 452,154 (US$ 1,498,529). The second- and third-largest costs were intensive care (20.6%) of KD 221,439 (US$ 733,893) and laboratory costs (10.2%) of KD 109,264 (US$ 362,123). The average cost for severe Covid-19 patient was KD 4,626 (US$ 15,332), which is almost three times higher than the non-severe patients of KD 1,544 (US$ 5,117). ConclusionThe cost of managing Covid-19 cases is substantial. The cost information can assist hospital managers and policymakers in designing more efficient interventions, especially for the management of high-risk groups.

The Impact of Casemix Reimbursement on Hospital Revenue in Indonesia (Kesan Pembayaran Casemix pada Pendapatan Hospital di Indonesia) / Jurnal Sains Kesihatan Malaysia

@#The objective of this study is to examine the impact of the casemix reimbursement on the hospital revenue at three selected hospitals (Type B, C and D) reimbursed using 602 groups from 14,749 cases. The results of the study showed that the hospitals received 32.4% higher income when reimbursed with Indonesia Case Bases Groups (INA-CBG) as compared to fee-for-service. Type D hospitals is the biggest gainer with 81.0% increased in income followed by Type B hospital that obtained 34.7% higher revenue. In conclusion, the use of INA-CBG as a prospective payment method has benefitted the hospitals by the increase in the revenues. It is hope that additional resources gained in this programme will allow the hospitals to provide optimum care to the population. It is recommended that the JKA management will use the INA-CBG casemix data to monitor the performance of the hospitals to ensure that quality and efficiency of the services provided to the population is continuously maintained.

Provider Costs Of Treating Dementia Among The Elderly In Government Hospitals Of Malaysia

@#he increased use of health care services by elderly has placed greater pressure to an already strained health care resources. Thus, an accurate economic cost estimation for specific age-related diseases like dementia is essential. The objectives of this project are to estimate costs of treating patient dementia among Malaysian elderly in the hospital settings. Two types of data were collected: Hospital costing data (using costing template) and patient clinical data (using questionaire). The cost analysis for hospital setting was carried out using a step-down costing methodology. The costing template was used to organize costing data into three levels of cost centers in hospitals: overhead cost centers (e.g. administration, consumables, maintenance), intermediate cost centers (e.g. pharmacy, radiology), and final cost centers (all wards and clinics). In estimating the cost for each cost center, both capital cost (building, equipment and furniture cost) and recurrent cost (staff salary and recurrent cost except salary) were combined. Information on activities which reflects the workload such as discharges, inpatient days, number of visit, floor space etc., are gathered to determine an appropriate allocation factor. In addition, for each final cost center, the fully allocated costs are then divided by the total unit of in-patient days to obtain the cost of providing services on a per-patient per-day of stay basis, referred as unit cost. The unit cost is finally multiplied with the individual patient’s length of stay to obtain the cost of care per patient per admission. All these steps were simplified by using the Clinical Cost Modeling Software Version 3.0 (CCM Ver. 3.0). The mean cost of dementia cases per episode of care was RM 12,806 (SD=10,389) with the length of stay of 14.3 (SD=9.9) days per admission. The top three components of cost for the treatment of dementia were the ward services 8,040 (SD=7,512), 62.78% of the total cost, followed by the pharmacy 1,312(SD=1,098), 10.25% of the total cost and Intensive Care Unit 979 (SD=961), 7.64% of the total cost. A multivariable analysis using multiple linear regressions showed that factors which significantly influence (p<0.05) the treatment costs of dementia cases were the length of stay (p<0.001), followed by age (p=0.001), case type severe (p=0.005) and study location (p=0.032). However, the factor length of stay is the tremendous parameter. In conclusion, data collection from selected hospitals as well as patient level data from medical record unit were successfully used to estimate the provider costs of hospital for the elderly with dementia disease. Results from the project will enable an assessment on the economic impact and consequences of cognitive impairment in an aged population. A cost quantification and distributive mapping of the burden of care can assist in policy implementation through targeted intervention for at-risk groups, which will translate into savings by means of delayed onset or progression of dementia.

The Introduction Of Subsidised Health Insurance For The Poor In The City Of Padang, Indonesia: Does The Gap On Health Payment And Health Service Utilisation Still Exist?

Indonesian government secures the access of the poor towards health services through subsidised schemes. This study is aimed to describe the pattern of health expenditure by households and to describe the pattern of health service utilisation across household’s socioeconomic level in the city of Padang after seven years of the introduction of subsidised schemes. A household survey was conducted involving 918 households, with multistage random sampling method. The proportion of out-of-pocket (OOP) health spending as a share of household’s capacity to pay was regressive across consumption quintiles. The proportion of households with catastrophic health expenditure was 1.6% while 1.1% faced impoverished health expenses. Among those who need health care, the utilisation among the rich was higher than the poor. Health insurance schemes in Padang provides financial protection, however with regards to household’s capacity to pay, the poor has the higher burden of health payment. The gap on health service utilisation between the poor and the better-offs was still apparent for outpatient services and it has been narrowed for inpatient care. This study suggests that the subsidised schemes for the poor are highly needed and the possibility of the leakage of subsidies to the rich should be considered by the government.

Development Of Clinical Pathway For Mild Cognitive Impairment And Dementia To Quantify Cost Of Age-Related Cognitive Disorders In Malaysia

As the Malaysian population ages, the burden of age-related cognitive disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease will increase concomitantly. This is one of the sub-study under a research project titled by quantify the cost of age-related cognitive impairment in Malaysia, which was undertaken to develop a clinical pathway for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Dementia. The clinical pathway (CP) will be used to support the costing studies of MCI and Dementia. An expert group discussion (EGD) was conducted among selected experts from six (6) government hospitals from different states of Malaysia, Ministry of Health, and United Nations University, International Institute for Global Health, UKM and UPM. The expert group includes psychiatrist specialists and public health medicine specialists. A total of 15 participants took part in the EGD. The group was presented with the different approach in managing MCI and Dementia. Finally, the group came to the consensus agreement on the most appropriate and efficient ways of managing the two conditions. In the EGD, an operational definition for MCI and Dementia was agreed upon and a pathway was developed for the usual practice in the Malaysian health system. A typical case used, as a reference is a 60-year-old patient referred to a memory clinic with complaint of “forgetfulness”. After three outpatient visits in the clinic, the diagnosis of MCI and Dementia could be clinically established. The clinical pathways covered all active clinical and non-clinical management of the patient over a period of one year. The experts identified the additional resources required to manage these patients for the whole spectrum of lifetime based on the expected life expectancy. The Clinical pathway (CP) for MCI and Dementia was successfully developed in EGD with strong support from practitioners in the health system. The findings will help the researchers to identify all-important clinical activities and interventions that will be included in the costing study.

Health System Reform From The People’s Point Of View: Development Of Reliable And Valid Questionnaire

Health system reform has been a major concern for different countries. The aim of this research was to develop a reliable and valid questionnaire suitable to assess the consequences of health reform process from people’s perspective. An extensive literature review used to extract a set of statements as possible indicators for health system reform. Expert panel used to determine the content validity rate (CVR) and the content validity index (CVI). The first version produced in Turkish language and pre-piloted with 20 heads of household. Qualified committee used to translate the Turkish version to English version. Group of eighteen academics and graduate students recruited to tests both versions for parallel test validity. The construct validity of the questionnaire was determined using principal components analysis with Varimax rotation method (PCA). Internal consistency and questionnaire’s reliability were calculated by Cronbach’s alpha and the test–retest reliability test. A 17- items questionnaire was developed through the qualitative phase. The Bartlett’s test was significant (p < 0.001), and the KMO value (0.842) showed that using principal component analysis (PCA) was suitable. Eigenvalues equal or higher than 1 were considered significant and chosen for interpretation. By PCA, 4 factors were extracted (accessibility, attitude and preference, quality of care and availability of resources) that jointly accounted for 85.2% of observed variance. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient showed excellent internal consistency (alpha=0.97), and test-retest of the scale with 2-weeks intervals indicated an appropriate stability for the scale (Intra-class coefficient = 0.96). The findings showed that the designed questionnaire was valid and reliable and can be used easily to assess the consequences of health reform process by comparing the situation before and after the reform from people’s perspective.

Peoples Expectations From Healthcare Providers – A Turkish Perspective

There is high expectation from the population on part of the healthcare providers. These include; skilful and timely medication administration; and knowledge, honesty, listening skills, availability and professional attitude. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the expectation of population with regards to the healthcare providers in Turkey. A cross- sectional study was conducted in Turkey, including both rural and urban population, carried out from October 2011 till January 2012. A total of 540 household heads were selected using multistage random sampling technique. Data was collected using modified self-administered 16-items QUOTE (Quality of Care Through the Patients’ Eyes) questionnaire. The questionnaire measures communication/ accessibility, organizational skills and professional skills. The response rate was (77.1%) and data was analyzed by using SPSS version 16.0. All the aspects measured using QUOTE questionnaire were found to be important by the majority of respondents, but with varying degrees of priority. The quality aspects related to the professional skills of physicians was ranked first followed by communication/ accessibility and last but not the least is the organizational skills of health care providers. This study explored the Turkish people priorities and expectations regarding healthcare providers. The public priorities and expectation were different across population. This may reflect the need to understand people’s expectations before providing the services to avoid complaints that may occur after the services have been rendered.

Direct Medical Cost of Stroke: Findings from a Tertiary Hospital in Malaysia

This study aimed to estimate cost of in-patient medical care due to stroke in a tertiary hospital in Malaysia. A retrospective analysis of stroke patients admitted to Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) between January 2005 and December 2008 were conducted. Cost evaluation was undertaken from the health provider’s perspective using a top-down costing approach. Mean length of stay (LOS) was 6.4 ± 3.1 days and mean cost of care per patient per admission was MYR 3,696.40 ± 1,842.17 or 16% of per capita GDP of the country. Human resources made up the highest cost component (MYR 1,343.90, SD: 669.8 or 36% of the total cost), followed by medications (MYR 867.30, SD:432.40) and laboratory services (MYR 337.90, SD:168.40). LOS and cost of care varied across different stroke severity levels (p<0.01). A regression analysis shown significant influence of stroke severity on cost of care, with the most severe stroke consumed MYR 1,598.10 higher cost than the mild stroke (p<0.001). Cost of medical care during hospital admission due to stroke is substantial. Health promotion and primary prevention activities need to take priority to minimise stroke admission in future.