Cost of venous thromboembolism in hospitalized medically ill patients.
OBJECTIVE
The results of a study to estimate the economic costs of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in hospitalized nonsurgical patients during initial admissions and subsequent to hospital discharge are presented.


METHODS
Using a database linking admission records from more than 150 U.S. hospitals to health insurance claims, 49,948 patients 40 years of age or older who were hospitalized at least once during a 6-year period for diagnoses other than VTE or traumatic injury and who met other inclusion criteria were identified. Costs were tallied from the index admission to postdischarge day 180 for patients with and patients without evidence of VTE. Ordinary least-squares regression was used to estimate the independent relationship between VTE and total health care costs, controlling for differences in patient characteristics.


RESULTS
Two hundred forty-two patients (0.5%) had VTE during the index admission, 317 (0.6%) had VTE after the index admission discharge; in total, 559 (1.1%) had VTE through postdischarge day 180. Among the 242 patients with VTE during their index admission, the adjusted mean total health care costs over 180 days were $17,848 higher than among those without VTE ($47,416 versus $29,568, p < 0.001); for the 317 patients with postdischarge VTE, the adjusted mean total 180-day costs were $51,863 higher than for those without postdischarge VTE ($74,136 versus $22,273, p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Among medically ill patients admitted to the hospital, health care costs were significantly higher among those who developed VTE during hospitalization or after discharge compared with those who did not develop VTE.
Trudy Pendergraft, M.S.P.H., is Senior Consultant; and Mark Atwood, M.S., is Research Analyst, Policy Analysis Inc., Brookline, MA. Xianchen Liu, M.D., Ph.D., is Director, Global Health Outcomes Research, Pfizer Inc., New York, NY, and Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Indiana University, Indianapolis. Hemant Phatak, Ph.D., is Director, Global Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Princeton, NJ. Larry Z. Liu, M.D., Ph.D., is Senior Director, Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Pfizer Inc., and Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Public Health, Weill Medical College, Cornell University, New York. Gerry Oster, Ph.D., is Vice President, Policy Analysis Inc.
Trudy
T
Pendergraft
Mark
M
Atwood
Xianchen
X
Liu
Hemant
H
Phatak
Larry Z
LZ
Liu
Gerry
G
Oster
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000639:trends; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D054556:Venous Thromboembolism / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy*