Why carry out this study?

Published reports citing healthcare resource utilization and costs for COVID-19 hospitalization in the United States vary widely

Some reports also confuse hospital costs with hospital charges, and most were not from COVID-19 patient data

A comprehensive analysis of COVID-19 hospitalization costs is essential to identify underlying determinants and observed trends for this rapidly evolving pandemic

What was learned from the study?

Overall median hospital length of stay, cost, and cost/day were 6 days, $11,267, and $1772, respectively. Older age, comorbidities, and mechanical ventilation were major drivers of costs, hospital length of stay, and risk of death. A downward trend of cost and hospital stay was observed from April to December 2020

These results highlight the significant burden from COVID-19 in the US in terms of hospital costs and length of stay

These estimates will be useful for inputs to economic models, disease burden forecasts, and local healthcare resource decisions