[Population-based analysis of the Healthcare expenditure in Catalonia (Spain): what and who consumes more resources?]

Abstract

Objective: To analyse the distribution of the expenditure according to the healthcare services and characteristics of patients, using the microdata of the Catalan population's use of healthcare services.

Methods: A fee or an indirect cost has been applied to all healthcare activities financed by CatSalut during 2014, computing the health expenditure made up by each person and adding it all up for the inhabitants of Catalonia (Spain).

Results: The sum of the healthcare expenditure made by all the inhabitants of Catalonia represents 97.0% of the CatSalut budget. Half of the population accounts for 3.6% of total healthcare expenditure (71€ per person); 1% of the population spends 23% of the expenditure (22,852€ per person). The highest average expenditure, in both women and men, occurs between the age of 80 and 89. The population with a chronic disease has an average annual expenditure of 413€, with 5 of 2,413€, and 10 of 9,626€. The average cost varies according to pathologies, from 2,854€ in patients with severe depression to 8,097€ in patients with HIV-AIDS.

Conclusions: The results are extremely useful for healthcare planning and for the prioritization of health policy interventions in groups with most needs.

Keywords: Estado de salud; Gasto sanitario; Health care cost; Health planning; Health policy; Health status; Planificación sanitaria; Poblacional; Política sanitaria; Population-based.