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. 2017 Jun 5:6:26.
doi: 10.1186/s13584-017-0149-0. eCollection 2017.

Comprehensive healthcare resource use among newly diagnosed congestive heart failure

Lori D Bash  1 , Dahlia Weitzman  2   3 , Robert O Blaustein  1 , Ofer Sharon  4 , Varda Shalev  2   3 , Gabriel Chodick  2   3
Affiliations

Comprehensive healthcare resource use among newly diagnosed congestive heart failure

Lori D Bash et al. Isr J Health Policy Res. .

Abstract

Background: Congestive heart failure (CHF) is among the most common causes of hospital admissions and readmissions in the Western world. However, the burden of ambulatory care has not been as well investigated. The objective of this study was to assess the relative burden and direct medical costs of CHF including inpatient and outpatient care.

Methods: We used longitudinal clinical data from a two-million member health organization in Israel (Maccabi Healthcare Services) to identify adults with newly diagnosed CHF between January 2006 and December 2012, either in the in- or outpatient setting. Adults without CHF were age- and sex-matched to CHF patients and healthcare utilization and all modes of healthcare costs were compared among them, excluding those in their last year of life.

Results: The burden posed by 6592 CHF patients was significantly (p < 0.001) larger than that of 32,960 matched controls. CHF patients had significantly higher rates of baseline comorbidity and healthcare utilization compared to non-CHF controls. This was evident in all categories of healthcare services and expenses, including in- and outpatient visits, laboratory expenses, medication costs, among younger and older, men and women. Among those who incurred any healthcare costs, younger (45-64y) and older (65 + y) subjects with CHF were observed to have about 3.25 (95% CI: 2.96-3.56) and 2.08 (95% CI: 1.99-2.17) times the healthcare costs, respectively, compared to subjects without CHF after adjusting for patient characteristics.

Conclusion: CHF is associated with an overall two- to three-fold higher cost of healthcare services depending on patient age, accounting for over half of all healthcare costs incurred by elderly CHF patients, and more than two-thirds of all costs among younger CHF patients. Observations of the large burden posed on one of the youngest societies in the developed world are profound, implicative of great opportunities to control the costs of CHF. Further research to understand how resource use impacts health outcomes and quality of care is warranted.

Keywords: Community health; Congestive heart failure; Costs of care; Healthcare utilization.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study Sample. Attrition of CHF patients from the study sample: All adult MHS members (age ≥21 year) who entered MHS’ CHF registry between January 2006 and December 2012 were eligible for the current study. We assessed 6,592 patients among the 10,276 patients entering the CHF registry. A total of 3,684 were excluded due to one or more of the following: first CHF indication not between 2006 and 2012; EF <40% reported >6 months before diagnosis; <1 year MHS enrollment before diagnosis; they had right heart failure; they did not have a prescription or dispensation of a diuretic; or exited MHS or died within the first year following diagnosis
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Population age distribution in Maccabi Health Services: All members and those with CHF, 2009 and 2015. MHS median (IQR) age among adults ≥21 years old: 2009: 42.2 (33.1–55.5) years; 2015: 44.8 (33.9–58.1) years
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