Medical Treatment & Costs Associated with COVID-19
Deborah Watkins
Founder and Chief Disruption Officer, Care Bridge International
COVID-19 Symptoms, Treatment and Costs
Officially named a pandemic on March 11, 2020, the novel COVID-19 virus is part of the family of coronaviruses. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus, including cough, fever, chills, muscle pain, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing and/or other less common symptoms of nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
While most people are asymptomatic and recover with minimal, if any care, the elderly or people having pre-existing comorbid conditions such as cardio-pulmonary conditions, obesity, diabetes, kidney disease or immunosuppression are at greatest risk for more severe symptoms. Treatment may consist of inpatient hospitalization on mechanical ventilation.
Treatment costs for mild to moderate symptoms of COVID -19 costs can range between $400- $3500 for an evaluation by a medical practitioner including lab work or other diagnostic tests. For severe symptoms, to treat COVID-19 related pneumonia, bronchitis, lower respiratory infection or life-threatening Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), costs may increase significantly for an average six-day inpatient stay ranging between $9000-$20,000, or upwards of $55, 000 to $78,000 or even more for intensive care monitoring and mechanical ventilation.
Long-Term Complications
Long term complications require ongoing care, post-hospitalization and may include respiratory compromise, cardiomyopathy, neuro/cognitive impairment, depression and/or anxiety and physical deconditioning, as well as associated medical care including various therapies and medication.
By: Deborah Watkins
Founder and Chief Disruption Officer, Care Bridge International
Summary of Qualifications
Deborah is a seasoned, results-oriented and versatile clinician and insurance executive; offering extensive experience in all facets of complex medical claims integrating technology, evidenced-based clinical and technical processes, quality assurance, case management and life care planning principles.
Responsibilities
- Visionary Leadership of the company startup operations, including the delivery of outstanding global solutions for to forecast medical treatment and costs for claims using BIG data machine learning and dashboard analytics.
- Direct teams of experts in assisting businesses seeking to improve their claims automation while reducing costs in utilizing a scalable business method.
Business Experience
Deborah is the CEO of Care Bridge International, Inc., delivering Analytic- Powered Outcomes™ using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to forecast medical treatment and costs for Claims. As the Former CEO of the global leader in full service Medicare Secondary Payer Compliance, Deborah received the 2010 Oracle Titan Award and Gartner 1to1 CRM Silver Award for a technology, data analytics implementation. She spearheaded an effort with the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) to produce “Medicare Set Asides and Workers Compensation” presented at the 2014 Annual Issues Symposium and September 2014, Research Brief.
She is experienced in claims management of catastrophic/complex/ chronic disease populations and recognized for excellence in clinical strategy and Return-to-Work outcomes. She has held key roles in major group health, workers compensation and group benefit insurance companies. Deborah was involved in the Federal Medicare+Choice pilot program, the precursor for Medicare Advantage Plans, and among the first to adopt case management for high-risk Medicare patients utilizing patient-centered medical home (PCMH) practices.
Professional Affiliations
- International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC)
- American Association of State Compensation Insurance Funds (AASCIF)
- Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)
- Claims Litigation Management (CLM)
- Silicon Valley Insurance Accelerator (SVIA) NewTechMatch Partner
- American Association of Nurse Life Care Planners (AANLCP)
- Sigma Theta Tau International Nurses Honor Society (STTI)
Education
Deborah has an executive master’s in healthcare leadership (MBA/MPH) from Brown University and a Master of Science in nursing.
