Although patient mobility has increased over the world, in Europe there is a lack ofempirical studies. The aim of the study was to compare foreign non-resident patients versus domesticpatients for the particular Catalan case, focusing on patient characteristics, hospitalisation costs anddifferences in costs depending on the typology of the hospital they are treated. We used data fromthe 2012 Minimum Basic Data Set-Acute Care hospitals (CMBD-HA) in Catalonia. We matchedtwo case-control groups: first, foreign non-resident patients versus domestic patients and, second,foreign non-resident patients treated by Regional Public Hospitals versus other type of hospitals.Hospitalisation costs were modelled using a GLM Gamma with a log-link. Our results show thatforeign non-resident patients were significantly less costly than domestic patients (12% cheaper).Our findings also suggested differences in the characteristics of foreign non-resident patients usingRegional Public Hospitals or other kinds of hospitals although we did not observe significantdifferences in the healthcare costs. Nevertheless, women, 15–24 and 35–44 years old patients andthe days of stay were less costly in Regional Public Hospitals. In general, acute hospitalizations offoreign non-resident patients while they are on holiday cost substantially less than domestic patients.The typology of hospital is not found to be a relevant factor influencing costs
展开▼
