Is limiting covid-19 outside hospitals cost-effective? Cost-effectiveness analysis of the italian special care continuity units (usca)

Abstract

Italian USCAs are composed of a team of specialists that visit COVID-19 patients at their homes so as to hospitalize promptly only the most serious cases. This paper was carried out on an USCA located in the surroundings of Florence, which operates on a vast hilly area of almost 60,000 inhabitants. The mean specific cost for each USCA patient is about 470€ and personnel cost alone is close to 90% of total direct specific costs. The Cost-Effectiveness Analysis developed in this article demonstrates that avoiding hospitalization of only 3% of USCA patients would be enough to offset the full cost of the USCA.