Open AccessHospital inpatient care utilization among patients with tuberculosis, Republic of Ireland, 2015–2018
Author(s) -
James J. O’Connell,
Eoghan de Barra,
Samuel McConkey
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0238142
Subject(s) - medicine , emergency medicine , inpatient care , emergency department , hospital care , tuberculosis , public health , health care , medical emergency , incidence (geometry) , family medicine , nursing , physics , optics , economics , economic growth , pathology
Background The Republic of Ireland (ROI) has a low incidence of TB. A reform of TB services in 2003 recommended that the delivery of care to patients with TB should primarily be in the outpatient setting, with limited indications for hospitalization. Three hospitals were designated as TB centres. Our aim was to describe the utilization of hospital inpatient care by patients with TB in the ROI. Methods We searched public hospital coding data to identify discharges between 01/01/2015-31/12/18 where TB was the principal diagnosis. The cost of TB episodes of care was calculated using payment rules for public hospitals in the ROI. Results We identified 1185 discharges with TB as the principal diagnosis. Of these, 68% (801/1185) were emergency episodes of care and 32% (384/1185) were elective. We estimate that 65.1% (818/1257) patients with TB notified in the ROI from 2015 to 2018 who had an episode of care in a public hospital was 65.1% (818/1257) and that 50.8% (639/1257) of those notified had an emergency episode of care. The estimated mean annual cost of TB inpatient care per year in the ROI from 2015 to 2018 was €2,638,828–2,955,047, with emergency episodes of care having a mean annual cost of €2,250,926–2,557,397 per year. Conclusions The burden of TB on hospital inpatient care in the Republic of Ireland is significant.