Cost of heart failure in Swedish primary healthcare

Abstract

Objectives: To calculate the cost for patients with heart failure (HF) in a primary healthcare setting.

Design: Retrospective study of all available patient data during a period of one year.

Setting: Two healthcare centers in Linköping in the southeastern region of Sweden, covering a population of 19 400 inhabitants.

Subjects: A total of 115 patients with a diagnosis of HF.

Main outcome measures: The healthcare costs for patients with HF and the healthcare utilization concerning hospital days and visits to doctors and nurses in hospital care and primary healthcare.

Results: The mean annual cost for a patient with HF was SEK 37 100. There were no significant differences in cost between gender, age, New York Heart Association functional class, and cardiac function. The distribution of cost was 47% for hospital care, 22% for primary healthcare, 18% for medication, 5% for nursing home, and 6% for examinations.

Conclusion: Hospital care accounts for the largest cost but the cost in primary healthcare is larger than previously shown. The total annual cost for patients with HF in Sweden is in the range of SEK 5.0-6.7 billion according to this calculation, which is higher than previously known.