Economic Hardships in Managing COVID-19 Patients in the Intensive Care Unit: A Retrospective Observational Study at a Tertiary Care Hospital in North India.

Background: The information on healthcare expenditure is crucial to know the impact of the pandemic on public health budgets, thereby correctly managing the ongoing crisis and preparing for subsequent waves.

Objective: To estimate the length of stay and cost incurred on COVID-19 patients who died in the ICU.

Methods: It is a record-based descriptive study conducted on 76 deceased COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU of a dedicated COVID-19 hospital (DCH) between April and October 2020. Central Government Health Services (CGHS) package rate list, Delhi-NCR, was used as a reference for the cost of the ICU bed, ventilator, investigations, and procedures.

Results: The median duration of stay in the hospital was 12 days, and in the ICU, it was eight days. The median total cost of managing the patient was 91,235.6 INR; of this, the median total cost for ICU stay per patient was 6,904 INR. The major proportion of total expenses was contributed by personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, an average of 11,091.33 INR per month. The median cost of stay in the ICU, on the ventilator, in the ward, and mean cost of investigations were higher among those with associated co-morbidities.

Conclusion: Most elderly male with co-morbidities lost their battle after ventilator support in the ICU. Patients with co-morbidities and severe disease not only have a long duration of hospitalization and poor survival rate but also fetch an economic burden close to one lakh on the institute.