Impact of Mass Workplace COVID-19 Rapid Testing on Health and Healthcare Resource Savings

Francesc López Seguí, Jose Maria Navarrete Duran, Albert Tuldrà, Maria Sarquella, Boris Revollo, Josep Maria Llibre, Jordi Ara del Rey, Oriol Estrada Cuxart, Roger Paredes Deirós, Guillem Hernández Guillamet, Bonaventura Clotet Sala, Josep Vidal Alaball and Patricia Such Faro
Additional contact information
Francesc López Seguí: Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation, 08916 Badalona, Spain
Jose Maria Navarrete Duran: Health Safety and Emergencies Unit SEAT CUPRA, the Companies of the Volkswagen Group in Spain, 08916 Badalona, Spain
Albert Tuldrà: Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation, 08916 Badalona, Spain
Maria Sarquella: Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation, 08916 Badalona, Spain
Boris Revollo: Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation, 08916 Badalona, Spain
Josep Maria Llibre: Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation, 08916 Badalona, Spain
Jordi Ara del Rey: North Metropolitan Primary Care Directorate, Catalan Institute of Health, 08916 Badalona, Spain
Oriol Estrada Cuxart: North Metropolitan Primary Care Directorate, Catalan Institute of Health, 08916 Badalona, Spain
Roger Paredes Deirós: Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation, 08916 Badalona, Spain
Guillem Hernández Guillamet: Central Catalonia Primary Care Directorate, Catalan Institute of Health, Sant Fruitos de Bages, 08272 Barcelona, Spain
Bonaventura Clotet Sala: Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation, 08916 Badalona, Spain
Josep Vidal Alaball: Central Catalonia Primary Care Directorate, Catalan Institute of Health, Sant Fruitos de Bages, 08272 Barcelona, Spain
Patricia Such Faro: Health Safety and Emergencies Unit SEAT CUPRA, the Companies of the Volkswagen Group in Spain, 08916 Badalona, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 13, 1-8

Abstract: Background : The epidemiological situation generated by COVID-19 has cast into sharp relief the delicate balance between public health priorities and the economy, with businesses obliged to toe the line between employee health and continued production. In an effort to detect as many cases as possible, isolate contacts, cut transmission chains, and limit the spread of the virus in the workplace, mass testing strategies have been implemented in both public health and industrial contexts to minimize the risk of disruption in activity. Objective : To evaluate the economic impact of the mass workplace testing strategy as carried out by a large automotive company in Catalonia in terms of health and healthcare resource savings. Methodology : Analysis of health costs and impacts based on the estimation of the mortality and morbidity avoided because of screening, and the resulting savings in healthcare costs. Results : The economic impact of the mass workplace testing strategies (using both PCR and RAT tests) was approximately €10.44 per test performed or €5575.49 per positive detected; 38% of this figure corresponds to savings derived from better use of health resources (hospital beds, ICU beds, and follow-up of infected cases), while the remaining 62% corresponds to improved health rates due to the avoided morbidity and mortality. In scenarios with higher positivity rates and a greater impact of the infection on health and the use of health resources, these results could be up to ten times higher (€130.24 per test performed or €69,565.59 per positive detected). Conclusion : In the context of COVID-19, preventive actions carried out by the private sector to safeguard industrial production also have concomitant public benefits in the form of savings in healthcare costs. Thus, governmental bodies need to recognize the value of implementing such strategies in private settings and facilitate them through, for example, subsidies.

Keywords: workplace testing; economic analysis; COVID-19; asymptomatic screening; mass testing; employee population health; return to work practices; SARS-CoV-2; surveillance; workplace mitigation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/13/7129/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/13/7129/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:13:p:7129-:d:587941

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().