Provision of phase 2 cardiac rehabilitation (CR) has been directly impacted by coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Economic analyses to date have not identified the financial implications of pandemic-related changes to CR. The aim of this study was to compare the costs and reimbursements of CR between two periods: (1) pre-COVID-19 and (2) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health care costs of providing CR were calculated using a microcosting approach. Unit costs of CR were based on staff time, consumables, and overhead costs. Reimbursement rates were derived from commercial and public health insurance. The mean cost and reimbursement/participant were calculated. Staff and participant COVID-19 infections were also examined.
The mean number of CR participants enrolled/mo declined during the pandemic (-10%; 33.8 ± 2.0 vs 30.5 ± 3.2, P = .39), the mean cost/participant increased marginally (+13%; $2897 ± $131 vs $3265 ± $149, P = .09), and the mean reimbursement/participant decreased slightly (-4%; $2959 ± $224 vs $2844 ± $181, P = .70). However, these differences did not reach statistical significance. The pre-COVID mean operating surplus/participant ($62 ± $140) eroded into a deficit of -$421 ± $170/participant during the pandemic. No known COVID-19 infections occurred among the 183 participants and 14 on-site staff members during the pandemic period.
COVID-19-related safety protocols required CR programs to modify service delivery. Results demonstrate that it was possible to safely maintain this critically important service; however, CR program costs exceeded revenues. The challenge going forward is to optimize CR service delivery to increase participation and achieve financial solvency.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 17 September 2021.
All research outputs
#24,107,122
of 34,383,983 outputs
Outputs from Journal of cardiopulmonary rehabilitation and prevention
#778
of 1,207 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#283,162
of 461,325 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of cardiopulmonary rehabilitation and prevention
#18
of 18 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,383,983 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 28th percentile – i.e., 28% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,207 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.3. This one is in the 33rd percentile – i.e., 33% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 461,325 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 35th percentile – i.e., 35% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 18 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
