The cost of intensive care unit (ICU) care was high during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic in USA, according to findings of a study published in an abstract presented at the 117th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society.

Data from Vizient Clinical Data Base/Resource Manager, which covers over 700 tertiary, quaternary and community hospitals in the US, were used to evaluate ICU costs during the COVID-19 pandemic in March−August 2020, compared with ICU costs during the same period in 2019. In total, 20 healthcare systems and 42 397 patients were included in the study.

Overall, there was a significant increase in ICU length of stay in 2020 compared with 2019 (p<0.001). The increase in ICU stay was greatest at tertiary centres (+1.5 days) and in metropolitan hospitals (+1.2 days). Complication rates increased by 1.4% overall, and were greatest in community hospitals (1.8%) and urban hospitals (1.8%).

Overall, the total cost per ICU admission was $5522 greater in 2020 than in 2019. The cost per patient was $6870, $6469, $4945 and $4102 in tertiary, metropolitan, community and rural hospitals, respectively.

"The MCEFootnote 1 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus resulted in increased adverse outcomes and cost-of-care for patients admitted to an ICU during the first six months of disaster response," concluded the authors.