Key characteristics of COVID-19 patients: profiles based on analysis of private healthcare claims

Key characteristics of COVID-19 patients: profiles based on analysis of private healthcare claims

Collection:
Health Policy and Services Research
Series Title(s):
Brief (FAIR Health, Inc.)
Contributor(s):
FAIR Health, Inc., issuing body.
Publication:
New York, NY : FAIR Health, Inc., July 14, 2020
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
Comorbidity
COVID-19 -- economics
Hospital Costs -- statistics & numerical data
Pandemics -- economics
United States
Genre(s):
Technical Report
Abstract:
This fourth study, in a series of FAIR Health briefs on COVID-19, focuses on patients, using the nation's largest repository of private healthcare claims to illuminate some of the key characteristics of patients diagnosed with COVID-19. These characteristics include age, gender, rural versus urban area by age, venue of care where first diagnosed, venue of care by age, comorbidities of hospitalized patients and median costs of hospitalization (both charge amounts and estimated allowed amounts). The patient characteristics are analyzed nationally and also by US census region. The data studied are from the period January-May 2020. Among the findings: (1) Nationally and in every region, chronic kidney disease and kidney failure were the most common comorbidity in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, present in 13 percent of all hospitalized patients with COVID-19. (2) All regions except one resembled the nation in having type 2 diabetes as the second most common comorbidity; the exception, the South, had hypertension in that rank. (3) Nationally, the median charge amount for hospitalization of a COVID-19 patient ranged from $34,662 for the 23-30 age group to $45,683 for the 51-60 age group. The median estimated allowed amounts ranged from $17,094 for people over 70 years of age to $24,012 for people aged 51-60 years. (4) The West was the region with the widest range of costs for COVID-19 hospitalizations. There, median charge amounts ranged from $21,407 for the 19-22 age group to $93,459 for the over 70 age group. Median estimated allowed amounts ranged from $15,289 for the 19-22 age group to $60,205 for the over 70 age group. (5) Nationally, an office was the most common setting for initial presentation of patients with COVID-19: 33.3 percent of COVID-19 patients presented to an office and 23.0 percent presented to an inpatient facility. However, older people (age 61 and above) most commonly presented first to an inpatient setting. (6) In the Northeast, telehealth was more common for initial diagnosis of COVID-19 than emergency rooms (6.7 versus 6.2 percent of COVID-19 patients), and the Northeast was the region with the highest percentage of COVID-19 patients who received their initial diagnosis via telehealth. (7) Nationally, males were associated with a larger share (54 percent) of the distribution of COVID-19 claim lines than females (46 percent). (8) Nationally, during the January-May time frame, COVID-19 was most commonly associated with the age group 51-60, which accounted for 29.9 percent of the distribution of claim lines with this diagnosis. Children (0-18 years) accounted for the smallest share, 1.5 percent. (It should be noted, however, that the age distribution may be in flux, with the average age of new COVID-19 patients in the United States having dropped by about 15 years compared with a few months ago, according to recent reports.) (9) In the South, Midwest and West, the age groups 19-30 and 31-40 accounted for larger shares of the distribution of claim lines than in the Northeast and the nation as a whole. (10) Across age groups on the national level, rural and urban areas were similar in their association with COVID-19 claim lines. In the largest age group by claim line volume, 51-60, rural and urban areas had almost identical shares of the COVID-19 claim line distribution, respectively 30.2 percent and 30.3 percent.
Copyright:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
Extent:
1 online resource (1 PDF file (23 pages))
Illustrations:
Illustrations
NLM Unique ID:
101774934 (See catalog record)
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101774934