Medical Expenses and Relative Weight for Diagnosis Related Groups of COVID-19 Patients Hospitalized in Rajavithi Hospital

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a newly emerged disease causing a global pandemic
with significant impacts on healthcare systems. The data on medical expenses and relative weight for
diagnosis-related groups (DRG) can be utilized for planning healthcare service adjustments and resource
allocation for patient care. This study aimed to analyze medical expenses and relative weight for DRG of
COVID-19 patients hospitalized at Rajavithi Hospital. It was a descriptive cross-sectional study, collecting
retrospective data from electronic medical records of 500 COVID-19 patients discharged from the
hospital between February 2020 and July 2021. The study results showed that the majority of patients
(60.8%) were female, with a median age of 41 years and a median length of stay of 12 days. Among
the patients, 10.2% died, and 23.6% required admission to intensive care unit (ICU). Most patients
(53.8%) had moderate disease severity. The total medical expenses amounted to 105,368,881.70 baht.
The median medical expenses for severe cases were 335,913.13 baht, for moderate cases 143,833.00
baht, and for mild cases 83,460.00 baht (with median AdjRW of 3.9531, 0.5931, and 0.4668,
respectively). Additionally, the study found that patients with different ages, lengths of stay, types of
wards admitted to, discharge types, discharge statuses, severity levels, and virus strains had significantly
different medical expenses and AdjRW (p<0.05). Patients with comorbidities at risk for severe COVID-19
had significantly higher medical expenses and AdjRW than those without comorbidities (p<0.05). The
medical expenses for severe cases were 4.02 times higher than for mild cases, and the AdjRW was 8.47
times higher. In conclusion, most COVID-19 patients had moderate symptoms without complications.
The medical expenses per admission were 143,970.00 baht, and the AdjRW was 0.5931.