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Financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic:Report from a high-volume academic neurosurgery
G Loganadane1, S Senova2, P Duportail3
1Department of Radiation Oncology, AP-HP, Inserm Unit 955 Team 21, University of Paris-Est Creteil (UPEC), Créteil, France.
Insights
The COVID-19 pandemic moderately impacted neurosurgery financial activity, with a 3% decrease in revenue in 2020 compared to 2019. Further analysis is needed to determine the full financial effects on neurosurgical procedures.
Area of Science:
- Neurosurgery
- Healthcare Economics
- Epidemiology
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted global healthcare systems.
- Elective surgeries, including neurosurgical procedures, were frequently canceled during lockdowns to curb virus transmission.
- Assessing the financial repercussions on specialized departments like neurosurgery is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the financial impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on a neurosurgery department's workload and revenue in 2020.
- To quantify changes in the number of neurosurgical procedures and associated income.
- To analyze financial data based on Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG) and illness severity.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of administrative billing records for neurosurgical procedures (NSP) and income.
- Comparison of data from 2020 (pandemic year) against 2019 (pre-pandemic year).
- Analysis stratified by month, DRG, and four levels of illness severity.
Main Results:
- A total of 824 inpatient neurosurgical procedures were performed in 2019, versus 818 in 2020.
- Total estimated revenue decreased by 3% in 2020 (€9,498,226.41) compared to 2019 (€9,817,361.65).
- No significant differences in financial impact were observed across DRG or illness severity levels (P=0.96).
Conclusions:
- The COVID-19 pandemic exerted a moderate negative influence on neurosurgical activity and financial performance.
- The observed financial impact was less severe than anticipated, despite procedure cancellations.
- Further in-depth medico-economic analyses are recommended to fully ascertain the pandemic's real financial impact on neurosurgery.
Background:
The global healthcare system has been overwhelmed by the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). In order to mitigate the risk of spread of the virus, most elective surgical procedures have been cancelled especially during the lockdown periods. The purpose of this study was to assess the financial impact of the COVID outbreak due to the supposed reduced workload from our neurosurgery department in 2020.
Methods:
Number of neurosurgical procedures (NSP) within the Department of Neurosurgery and their associated estimated income were retrospectively reviewed globally and month wise from administrative records of billing in 2020 and 2019 based on the Diagnosis related group (DRG) and severity of illness (4 levels).
Results:
Overall, 824 and 818 inpatient surgical procedures were performed in 2019 and 2020 respectively. The total estimate revenue generated from inpatient surgeries was moderately decreased (3%): 9 498 226.41 euros in 2020 versus 9 817 361.65 euros in 2019 without significant difference across DRG (P=0.96) and severity of illness.
Conclusions:
Our data suggests a moderate negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had on neurosurgical and financial activity. However, a more in-depth medico-economic analysis need to be performed to assess the real financial impact.
