Costs and length of sepsis-related hospitalizations in Taiwan

Medicine (Baltimore). 2020 May 29;99(22):e20476. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000020476.

Abstract

To investigate the healthcare expenditures and length of stay (LOS) of sepsis-related hospitalizations in Taiwan.This is a retrospective claim database study. Data were obtained from the two-million-sample longitudinal health and welfare database (LHWD). Adult patients hospitalized with sepsis between 2010 and 2014 were identified by International Classification of Diseases 9th Edition Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes, and these patients were divided into three levels of sepsis severity. The amount and distribution of their total medical expenditures were investigated.In total, 62,517 patients with 97,790 sepsis-related hospitalizations were included in the present study. It was found that ward fees and medicines comprised the largest component of expenses for sepsis-related hospitalizations. In addition, our study results indicated that the median sepsis-related hospitalization cost was 66.4 thousand New Taiwan Dollar (NT dollars) in 2014, and a significant temporal change was found between 2010 and 2014. The median LOS in a hospital and in an intensive care unit were 11 and 7 days, respectively. Both expenditures and LOS were found to increase with sepsis severity.This study provides an updated and better understanding of the costs and LOS of sepsis-related hospitalizations in Taiwan. It was found that ward fees and medicine fees were the major components of hospital costs.

MeSH terms

  • Critical Care / economics
  • Health Expenditures / statistics & numerical data
  • Hospital Costs / statistics & numerical data
  • Hospitalization / economics*
  • Humans
  • Length of Stay / economics
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Sepsis / economics*
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Taiwan