title: Inflammatory bowel disease: costs-of-illness.
abstract: We have evaluated the economic costs to society for the two major types of inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, using a medical decision algorithm costing methodology augmented by examination of 1988-89 claims data from a major U.S. commercial insurer. The average annual medical cost per patient with Crohn's disease was estimated at $6,561 (1990 U.S. dollars). The total annual medical costs for U.S. Crohn's disease patients in 1990 was estimated at $1.0-1.2 billion. The average annual medical cost per patient with ulcerative colitis was estimated at $1,488. The total annual medical costs for U.S. patients with ulcerative colitis in 1990 was estimated at $0.4-0.6 billion. Adjusting for productivity losses, we estimated the annual economic cost for both diseases at $1.8 billion to $2.6 billion. Analysis of insurance claims data for inflammatory bowel disease patients showed that the distribution of annual medical expenses charged and paid is highly uneven by patient. The top 2% of Crohn's disease patients accounted for 28.9% of total charges and 34.3% of the total amount paid. The top 2% of ulcerative colitis patients accounted for 36.2% of total charges and 39.0% of the total amount paid. We used a multivariate regression model to examine potential cost-effectiveness tradeoffs between different types of medical services in treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles 90033.
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Hay
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Hay
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis / Q000379:methods; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007345:Insurance Claim Review; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement; D008297:Male; D017059:Models, Econometric; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology