Carga económica del copago como gasto de bolsillo, en la atención hospitalaria de pacientes adultos y pediátricos en una clínica de la ciudad de Cartagena de Indias.

Abstract

Out-of-pocket health expenses are direct payments for assets and services made by households related to the health sector, including the copayment, which responds to a direct contribution made by users or their families members of part of the total cost of the health sector medical care, including medications and diagnostic tests. The purpose of this study is to determine the economic burden of the copayment, as an out-of-pocket expense, in the hospital care of adult and pediatric patients in a clinic in the city of Cartagena de Indias D.T y C. By means of a treatment of the data that rest in the databases of said clinic, it was found that the economic burden of the copayment as out-of-pocket expense of the pediatric and adult patients of the clinic under study is quite high, as it is located in the upper percentiles, it was also found that the families members of pediatric patients tend to have more expenses in copays than adult patients and their families.