COST ANALYSIS FOR PREHOSPITAL CARE AMBULANCE RESPONSE IN HCTM: PRE- AND DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC PERIOD
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37268/mjphm/vol.25/no.1/art.2696Keywords:
pre-hospital care, ambulance response, COVID-19, pandemic, cost analysisAbstract
The emergency department is vulnerable to the socioeconomic impact of the pandemic as it provides 24-hour services to cater to the demands of the pandemic. There were changes to practice to mitigate COVID-19 transmission. Cost information associated with Pre-Hospital Care (PHC) in the local context has been scarce. This study aims to determine the resource utilisation and cost of ambulance response pre- and during the pandemic. This study was a retrospective cross-sectional study. Data on the PHC services were collected by purposive sampling for 2019 (pre- pandemic) and 2021 (during the pandemic) from a university-affiliated tertiary centre. The analysis comprises data on ambulance utilisation and cost components, including ambulance maintenance cost, fuel consumption, personnel and consumable cost. Activity-based costing was used to estimate the cost based on the work process involved in ambulance response. There was an 8.6% increase in ambulance response in 2021 compared to 2019. The total cost of ambulance response per call in 2021 was MYR 468 (USD 113) compared to MYR 399 (USD 96) in 2019. Personnel cost and consumable cost for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) were significantly increased in 2021 compared to 2019 (p<0.001), with percentage rises recorded at 27% and 1540%, respectively. The cost of ambulance response during the pandemic was driven by increased costs associated with consumables and allowances to maintain the continuity of the services. This result can be used for budgeting estimates to prepare and mitigate future disasters or pandemics.
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