Daily hospitalization costs in patients with deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism treated with anticoagulant therapy

Abstract

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE), which includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), affects about 900,000 persons in the United States each year.

Objectives: To quantify the progression of daily hospitalization costs among DVT and PE patients.

Patients/methods: A retrospective claims analysis was conducted from 01/01/2009 to 03/01/2013 using the Premier Perspective Comparative Hospital Database. Patients≥ 18years of age with an admitting/primary diagnosis of DVT or PE and receiving anticoagulant therapy were identified. Treatment patterns, mean daily costs, and total hospitalization costs were reported for the DVT and PE populations. Comparisons of mean daily costs with those of the previous day were presented to identify statistical cost differences between hospitalization days.

Results: A total of 28,953 and 35,550 patients were identified with a diagnosis of DVT and PE, respectively. The daily costs were at their highest during the first three days for DVT patients at $2,321, $1,875, and $1,558, respectively. Similar results were found for PE patients with costs at their highest in the first three days, at $2,981, $2,034, and $1,564, respectively. Among the DVT and PE populations, mean daily costs were $1,594 and $1,735, respectively, and daily hospitalization costs became stable on the third day of the hospitalization (standardized differences<10%).

Conclusions: Daily hospitalization costs of patients with an admitting/primary diagnosis of DVT or PE were high in the first days and became stable on the third day. It was further suggested that any change in the LOS could significantly affect hospitalization costs.

Keywords: Costs and cost analysis; Hospital costs; Hospitalization; Pulmonary embolism; Venous thrombosis.