Publisher: Scientific Research Publishing House (SRPH), Shirvan, Iran http://srpub.org Email: sjmshm@srpub.org Investigating the Pattern of Direct Medical Costs of Covid-19 Patients in Hospitals of Ilam Province Jamil Sadeghifar 1 , Fereshteh Karimi 2* , Mohammad Bayar 1 , Mohammad Veisi 2 , Yaser Soleymani 2 and Mehdi Radabadi 2 and Saeid Bicheranlou 3 1 Associate Professor, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, School of Health, Iran. 2 PhD Student in Health Economics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health, Department of Management Sciences and Health Economics, Iran. 3 Norht Khorasan Information Technology Center , Bojnourd , Iran *Corresponding Author: fereshtek69@gmail.com Received: 15 September, 2021 Accepted: 30 October, 2021 Published: 25 December, 2021 ABSTRACT Direct medical costs are the most well-known category of disease costs. This study aimed to investigate and analyze the direct medical costs of patients with Covid19 by services provided in the centers and hospitals affiliated to Ilam University of Medical Sciences. This study was a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study using hospital costs information in Ilam province from March 2019 to September 2021. Financial information related to all patients diagnosed with Covid-19 disease was collected in all hospitals of the province and classified and reviewed using Excel 2016 software. In general, 1713711 services were provided in medical centers affiliated to Ilam University of Medical Sciences. Most of these services were provided in Shahid Mostafa Khomeini Educational and Medical Center as the main medical center for patients with Covid-19 in Ilam. The results of the study showed that among the direct medical costs, medication services (30%), laboratory (16%) and inpatient care (11%), were the highest costs in Ilam University of Medical Sciences. In total, out of the total direct medical costs, the share of patient's payments was 10%. The share of insurance companies in total expenditures was 83% and the share of government subsidy was 7%. Examining the pattern of drug consumption and pharmaceutical services can be considered as one of the key sectors by health policy makers in Ilam province, because the 30% share of pharmaceutical expenditures showed that the management of these services greatly control the medical expenditures of Ilam University of Medical Sciences. Keywords: Direct Medical Costs, Hospital, Ilam Province, Covid-19 Introduction On December 31, 2019, a respiratory illness was reported in China, and the world is currently experiencing a pantomime of the disease, known as Covid-19 [1]. The spread of this disease has confronted the international community with a crisis that has been unprecedented in recent years [2]. Covid-19 is the seventh coronavirus to infect humans and the third coronavirus to cause significant mortality and disability over the past two decades [3]. In addition to causing death and disability, coronaviruses have also caused high economic costs. The results of a study in 2004 showed that if the SARS continued from 2003 to 2004, its global costs would reach more than 40 $ billion [4]. An examination of MERS costs in Saudi Arabia also showed that the direct medical cost per person varied from 1248.41$ to 75987.95 $ [3]. Disease costs are generally categorized in different ways. The most well-known category of these costs is the direct medical costs. These costs are directly related to the provision of medical services to patients and include costs incurred by health centers (hospitals, outpatient clinics), staff (physicians, nurses and other specialists), medical services, alternative care, supplements and any medication [5-6]. In other words, direct medical costs are the resources that are consumed in the health sector during the evaluation of Original Article SJMSHM, 2021; 3(4):1-8 DOI 10.47176/sjmshm.3.4.1 SRPH [ DOI: 10.47176/sjmshm.3.4.1 ] [ Downloaded from sjmshm.srpub.org on 2022-01-31 ] 1 / 8