title: Healthcare resource utilization and costs of outpatient follow-up after liver transplantation in a university hospital in São Paulo, Brazil: cost description study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Data on the costs of outpatient follow-up after liver transplantation are scarce in Brazil. The purpose of the present study was to estimate the direct medical costs of the outpatient follow-up after liver transplantation, from the first outpatient visit after transplantation to five years after transplantation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cost description study conducted in a university hospital in São Paulo, Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cost data were available for 20 adults who underwent liver transplantation due to acute liver failure (ALF) from 2005 to 2009. The data were retrospectively retrieved from medical records and the hospital accounting information system from December 2010 to January 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean cost per patient/year was R$ 13,569 (US$ 5,824). The first year of follow-up was the most expensive (R$ 32,546 or US$ 13,968), and medication was the main driver of total costs, accounting for 85% of the total costs over the five-year period and 71.9% of the first-year total costs. In the second year after transplantation, the mean total costs were about half of the amount of the first-year costs (R$ 15,165 or US$ 6,509). Medication was the largest contributor to the costs followed by hospitalization, over the five-year period. In the fourth year, the costs of diagnostic tests exceeded the hospitalization costs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This analysis provides significant insight into the costs of outpatient follow-up after liver transplantation due to ALF and the participation of each cost component in the Brazilian setting.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP), São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Patricia Coelho de
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Soárez
authors.affiliation: Hospital das Clínicas (HC), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP), São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Amanda Nazareth
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Lara
authors.affiliation: Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Clinic, Hospital das Clínicas (HC), Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP), São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Marli Christovam
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Sartori
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP), São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Edson
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Abdala
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP), São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luciana Bertocco de Paiva
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Haddad
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP), São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiz Augusto Carneiro
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: D'Albuquerque
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP), São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Hillegonda Maria Dutilh
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Novaes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000191:economics*; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017721:Hospital Costs; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000191:economics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000191:economics; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations