Direct Costs of COVID-19 Inpatient Admissions in a Portuguese Tertiary Care University Centre.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has posed greater financial pressure on health systems and institutions that had to respond to the specific needs of COVID-19 patients while ensuring the safety of the diagnosis and treatment of all patients and healthcare professionals. To assess the financial impact of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals, we have characterized the cost of COVID-19 admissions, using inpatient data from a Portuguese Tertiary Care University Centre.

Methods: We analysed inpatient data from adult patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who were admitted between March 1, 2020 and May 31, 2020.