Cost of hospital care in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in a high complexity hospital in Colombia

Introduction: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) entails high direct medical costs, derived from the complexity of diagnosis, treatment, and management of associated complications. In Colombia, there are studies on direct outpatient medical costs, and hospital studies are scarce. Objective: The present study describes the direct medical costs derived from hospital care in a high complexity hospital in Bogotá. Materials and methods: Observational, retrospective, partial economic study. A descriptive analysis of the direct medical costs of caring for hospitalized patients with SLE was performed. The data was obtained by reviewing medical records between January and December 2019; Cost data were taken from the amounts billed by the hospital. Costs in Colombian pesos were expressed in dollars. Results: Costs of 68 patients and 100 hospitalizations were analysed. The mean age was 39 years±12.4. The mean hospital stay was 6.8 days±6.1. Total direct medical costs were 267,980 USD with a median per hospitalization of 1,622 USD. Non-surgical procedures represented 64% of the costs (170,708 USD), drugs 25% (67,494 USD), medical supplies and procedures 9% (24,936 USD), and 2% (4,842 USD) respectively. Conclusion: Hospitalizations of patients with SLE entail high direct medical costs, which do not differ significantly from hospital costs in other countries. Non-surgical procedures and drugs accounted for the largest share of these costs, followed by supplies and surgical procedures.