Direct Medical Costs of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in the Philippines: Findings from Two Hospital Databases and Physician Surveys

ObjectiveTo estimate the annual direct medical cost of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in hospitals and outpatient care clinics from a healthcare payer perspective in the Philippines.Design and participants(1) A review of electronic hospital records of people with T2DM in two tertiary hospitals—Ospital ng Makati (OsMak) and National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) and (2) a cross-sectional survey with 50 physicians providing outpatient care for people with T2DM.SettingPrimary, secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities in Metro Manila.Outcome measuresCost of managing T2DM and its related complications in US dollars (USD) in 2016.ResultsA total of 1023 and 1378 people were identified in OsMak and NKTI, with a complication rate of 66% and 74%, respectively. In both institutions, the average annual cost per person was higher if individuals were diagnosed with any complication (NKTI: US$3226 vs US$2242 and OsMak: US$621 vs US$127). Poor diabetes control was estimated to incur higher per person cost than good control in both public outpatient care (poor control, range: US$727 to US$2463 vs good control, range: US$614 to US$1520) and private outpatient care (poor control, range: US$848 to US$2507 vs good control, range: US$807 to US$1603).ConclusionThe results highlight the high direct medical cost resulting from poor diabetes control and the opportunity for cost reduction by improving control and preventing its complications.