Economic Evaluation of On-Site Computed Tomography at Major Events Using Data from the Munich Oktoberfest-A German and U.S. Healthcare Perspective.

Background/Objectives: The Munich Oktoberfest is the largest Volksfest in the world, attracting more than 6 million visitors every year to the city of Munich and surroundings, posing challenges to healthcare providers. Since 2022, a CT has been installed on the festival site to decrease patient transport to emergency departments (EDs) and relieve EDs of a significant number of patients. The aim of our studies was to determine the economic impact of on-site CT on the healthcare system, both from a German and a U.S. perspective. Methods: A decision model was built using patient data from the Munich Oktoberfest. Two scenarios were investigated where patients with mild traumatic brain injuries were either scanned for intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) with CT on-site or brought directly to an ED for further investigation. Costs for patient transportation and CT scans were derived from German national reimbursement rates as well as U.S. Medicare data. Costs were calculated by diagnosis in the national currency. Results: In all scenarios, on-site CT scans were associated with reduced costs per patient (EUR 243 vs. EUR 908 in the German setting and EUR 438 vs. EUR 1635 in the international setting, as well as USD 160 vs. USD 403 in the U.S. setting). For the U.S. scenario, the proportion of ICH in the patient group, as well as the transport distance, had the strongest impact on average costs per patient. Conclusions: On-site CT scanning is a cost-reducing as well as clinically beneficial method for triaging patients at the Munich Oktoberfest.