Costs of a primary health care program for the management of high blood pressure in Colombia

Abstract

Objective To determine the cost of care related to high blood pressure management and its impact on the stage of the disease in a group of patients from Tunja, Boyacá, Colombia. Materials and Methods Cost-effectiveness, cross-sectional study. 172 clinical histories of patients with high blood pressure from Tunja, Colombia, were included. Results The average cost of care in the primary care service was $184 631 pesos per month/patient; 61% of this amount is spent on human resources, 20% on laboratory tests and 10% on medication. Compliance with the program was 72.1%. Conclusions The expenditure on human talent is more than 50% of the resources allocated for the management of high blood pressure, but this has positive repercussions on the control and management of this condition. High blood pressure figures show controlled management of the patients included in the program: 61% of them had normal figures and 53% were classified in the normal stages. High blood pressure requires a large amount of resources, so it should be studied by multidisciplinary health teams in order to find more efficient management alternatives.