Arnau Pons holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Pompeu Fabra University and a Master’s degree in Applied Research in Economics and Business from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He works in the Management Control Unit at Hospital del Mar, focusing on research into hospital costs.

With experience as an intern at the Health Economics Unit of Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital and at the TIC Salut i Social Foundation, he shows a strong interest in the evaluation of public health–related policies.

Slides (catalan): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/loutht8brp2y77d5bsu1b/RECH.pdf?rlkey=v8ykczxjjmdfh44bjgncp8p4h&st=nd7zd93h&dl=0

Slides (english): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kv5suhb7lnn2616g8wfk0/RECH-Hospital-Costs-Spanish-Network-_def.pdf?rlkey=6cc7huuckrq98b9ggziwl3q4i&st=a0bbljbu&dl=0

Abstract:

Costs are a central element in health economics, both for economic evaluation and for the management and planning of healthcare organizations and systems. Nevertheless, the availability and use of homogeneous and comparable hospital cost data remain limited. The Spanish Network of Hospital Costs (RECH) is an initiative aimed at overcoming these limitations. It is a national database that contains episode-level cost information, disaggregated by major care components and linked to clinical and administrative variables, based on shared methodological criteria, covering discharges from 37 acute-care hospitals of the National Health System during the period 2009–2023.

The RECH makes it possible to analyze the evolution of costs in participating hospitals, differentiating by type of care and by levels of hospital complexity. In addition, comparative indicators such as the Standard Cost Ratio have been developed, facilitating the relative analysis of cost behavior over time, adjusted for case mix.

Beyond its descriptive use, the RECH also constitutes a research infrastructure oriented toward economic evaluation, benchmarking, and the development of cost prediction models, with the aim of improving the efficiency and transparency of the healthcare system.