About The Study: In this study of more than 1.3 million inpatient admissions for treatment of COVID-19 from March 2020 through March 2022, researchers estimated an average national medical resource use or hospital cost to deliver care per COVID-19 inpatient stay at $11,275. Hospital costs increased more than five times the rate of medical inflation over this period. This was explained partly by changes in the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, which also increased over time. Nonetheless, costs to provide inpatient care increased even as care practices changed, vaccination rates increased, and the variants of concern evolved.
Authors: Kandice A. Kapinos, Ph.D., of the RAND Corporation in Arlington, Virginia, is the corresponding author.
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(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.50145)
