Point-of-Care COVID-19 Antigen Testing in Exposed German Healthcare Workers—A Cost Model

Roland Diel, Norbert Hittel and Albert Nienhaus
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Roland Diel: Institute for Epidemiology, University Medical Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, 24015 Kiel, Germany
Norbert Hittel: Otsuka Novel Products GmbH, 80636 München, Germany
Albert Nienhaus: Institution for Statutory Accident Insurance and Prevention in the Health and Welfare Services (BGW), 22089 Hamburg, Germany

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 20, 1-13

Abstract: Background: Hospital staffing shortages are again (mid-year 2021) becoming a significant problem as the number of positive COVID-19 cases continues to increase worldwide. Objective: To assess the costs of sending HCW into quarantine (Scenario 1) from the hospital’s and the taxpayer’s perspective versus the costs arising from implementing point-of-care COVID-19 antigen testing (POCT) for those staff members who, despite learning that they have been exposed to hospital patients later found to be infected with COVID-19, continue to report to work (Scenario 2). Methods: A mathematical model was built to calculate the costs of a sample-and-stay strategy for exposed healthcare workers (HCW) in Germany by utilizing a high-quality antigen fluorescent immunoassay (FIA), compared to the costs of quarantine. Direct costs and wage costs were evaluated from the hospital as well as from the taxpayer perspective assuming a SARS-CoV-2 infection prevalence of 10%. Results: Serial POCT testing of exposed HCW in Germany (Scenario 2) who do not go into quarantine but continue to work during a post-exposure period of 14 days at their working place raises costs of EUR 289 (±20%: EUR 231 to EUR 346, rounded) per HCW at the expense of the employing hospital while the extra-costs to the taxpayer per exposed HCW are limited to EUR 16 (±20%: EUR 13 to EUR 19). In contrast, sending HCW into quarantine (Scenario 1) would result in costs of EUR 111 (±20%: EUR 89 to EUR 133) per exposed HCW for the hospital but EUR 2235 (±20%: EUR 1744 to EUR 2727) per HCW at the expense of the taxpayer. Conclusions: Monitoring exposed HCW who continued working by sequential POCT may considerably reduce costs from the perspective of the taxpayer and help mitigate personnel shortages in hospitals during pandemic COVID-19 waves.

Keywords: costs; point-of-care; antigen testing; real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR); SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19 (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 (2)

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