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COVID-19 and Triage - A Public Health Economic Analysis of a Scarcity Problem

Author

Listed:
  • Bernard Michael Gilroy

    (Paderborn University)

  • Marie Wegener

    (Paderborn University)

  • Christian Peitz

    (Paderborn University)

Abstract

With the outbreak of the corona pandemic in Wuhan in 2019 and in early 2020 in Europe, the political and media discourse has been dominated by many health economic issues and discussions, ranging from systemic relevance to multiple shortages of vaccines, nurses, testing capacity and medical protective equipment. In the event of a scarcity of resources, the German Ethics Council1 recommended preparing for a possible “triage scenario” at the beginning of the pandemic.2 The aim of the article is to find out how advanced the current burden on intensive care units in Germany is due to the Corona pandemic and how close Germany is to a possible triage scenario. Therefore, the situation of German hospitals over a period of 30 years prior to the Corona pandemic is examined, and a comparison with OECD nations is made. This is followed by an analysis of the situation during Corona (with a focus on intensive care bed utilisation). Finally, the development and application of the triage scenario is examined, followed up by a brief discussion to what extent a triage system is compatible with the welfare state.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernard Michael Gilroy & Marie Wegener & Christian Peitz, 2021. "COVID-19 and Triage - A Public Health Economic Analysis of a Scarcity Problem," Working Papers CIE 147, Paderborn University, CIE Center for International Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:pdn:ciepap:147
    as

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    File URL: http://groups.uni-paderborn.de/wp-wiwi/RePEc/pdf/ciepap/WP147.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Afschin Gandjour, 2021. "How Many Intensive Care Beds are Justifiable for Hospital Pandemic Preparedness? A Cost-effectiveness Analysis for COVID-19 in Germany," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 181-190, March.
    2. Ludwig Kuntz & Roman Mennicken & Stefan Scholtes, 2015. "Stress on the Ward: Evidence of Safety Tipping Points in Hospitals," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(4), pages 754-771, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • E10 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - General
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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