{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,26]],"date-time":"2026-06-26T14:11:13Z","timestamp":1782483073375,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,11]],"date-time":"2023-01-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1673395200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) is one of the most accurate and extensively used laboratory procedures for diagnosing COVID-19. This molecular test has high diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity and specificity) and is considered as the gold standard for COVID-19 diagnosis. During COVID-19 surge in India, rRT-PCR service was encouraged and supported by the government of India through existing healthcare setup at various levels of healthcare facilities. The primary purpose of this research was to determine the per-unit cost of providing COVID-19 rRT-PCR services at the national reference laboratory at ICMR-National Institute of Virology in Pune during the early phase of COVID-19 pandemic mitigation, from the provider\u2019s perspective. The monthly cost for rRT-PCR testing as well as an estimated annual average unit cost for testing that takes account of peaks and troughs in pandemic were investigated. The time frame used to estimate unit cost was one year (July 2020-June 2021). For data collection on all resources spent during the early phase of pandemic, a conventional activity-based bottom-up costing technique was used. Capital costs were discounted and annualized over the estimated life of the item. Apportioning statistics were selected for cost heads like human resources, capital, and equipment based on time allocation, sharing of services, and utilization data. The data was also used to understand the breakdown of costs across inputs and over time and different levels of testing activity. During the initial phase of pandemic mitigation, the per unit cost of providing the COVID-19 rRT-PCR test was estimated to be \u20b9566 ($7.5) in the month of July 2020, where the total 56318 COVID-19 rRT-PCR tests was performed. The major proportion (87%) of funds was utilized for procuring laboratory consumables, followed by HR (10%), and it was least for stationary &amp; allied items (0.02%). Unit cost was found to be the most sensitive to price variations in lab consumables (21.7%), followed by the number of samples tested (3.9%), salaries paid to HR (2.6%), price of equipment (0.23%), and building rental price (0.14%) in a univariate sensitivity analysis. The unit cost varies over the period of the pandemic in proportion with the prices of consumables and inversely proportional with number of tests performed. Our study would help the Government to understand the value for money they invested for laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19, budget allocation, integration and decentralization of laboratory services so as to help for achieving universal health coverage.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0277867","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,11]],"date-time":"2023-01-11T18:45:50Z","timestamp":1673462750000},"page":"e0277867","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":21,"title":["Cost-analysis of real time RT-PCR test performed for COVID-19 diagnosis at India\u2019s national reference laboratory during the early stages of pandemic mitigation"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4521-2918","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Naveen","family":"Minhas","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6922-7877","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Yogesh K.","family":"Gurav","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3875-6669","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Susmit","family":"Sambhare","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Varsha","family":"Potdar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Manohar Lal","family":"Choudhary","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sumit Dutt","family":"Bhardwaj","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Priya","family":"Abraham","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0277867.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"185","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijsu.2020.04.018","article-title":"The socio-economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19): A review","volume":"78","author":"M Nicola","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int J Surg"},{"issue":"311","key":"pone.0277867.ref002","article-title":"Early Detection and Assessment of Covid-19","volume":"7","author":"HAS Hashmi","year":"2020","journal-title":"Frontiers in Medicine"},{"key":"pone.0277867.ref003","volume-title":"Disease Control Priorities: Improving Health and Reducing Poverty","author":"N Madhav","year":"2017"},{"key":"pone.0277867.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100761","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nmni.2020.100761","article-title":"Diagnosis of COVID-19: facts and challenges","volume":"38","author":"HH Zalzala","year":"2020","journal-title":"New Microbes New Infect"},{"issue":"2 & 3","key":"pone.0277867.ref005","first-page":"251","article-title":"Development of in vitro transcribed RNA as positive control for laboratory diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 in India","volume":"151","author":"ML Choudhary","year":"2020","journal-title":"Indian J Med Res"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0277867.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2312","DOI":"10.1002\/jmv.25996","article-title":"Should RT-PCR be considered a gold standard in the diagnosis of COVID-19?","volume":"92","author":"M Dram\u00e9","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Med Virol"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0277867.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajic.2020.07.011","article-title":"Systematic review with meta-analysis of the accuracy of diagnostic tests for COVID-19","volume":"49","author":"B B\u00f6ger","year":"2021","journal-title":"Am J Infect Control"},{"key":"pone.0277867.ref008","unstructured":"Rajagopal D. 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