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Total and component health care costs in a non-Medicare HMO population of patients with and without type 2 diabetes and with and without macrovascular disease.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is one of the most prevalent and costly chronic conditions in the United States. Macrovascular disease (MVD) remains a common and costly comorbidity in T2DM. Understanding the impact of MVD on total health care costs in patients with T2DM is of great importance to managed care organizations (MCOs). OBJECTIVE: To examine from the perspective of an MCO the impact of MVD on health care costs in patients with T2DM and in a matched comparison group of patients without diabetes. METHODS: This study involved retrospective analysis of administrative claims (eligibility, pharmacy, and medical) using data from a commercial health maintenance organization population of approximately 700,000 members in an East Coast health plan. Patients were included in this study if they (a) had 2 or more claims for T2DM ( International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification[ICD-9-CM] codes 250.X0 or 250.X2), or (b) had a prescription drug claim for insulin and a diagnosis of T2DM, or (c) had at least 1 pharmacy claim for an oral glycemic-modifying agent during the 12-month period from January 1, 2003, through December 31, 2003. Patients with 2 or more medical claims for type 1 diabetes (ICD-9-CM codes 250.X1 or 250.X3) were excluded from the study. A random group of comparison patients without diabetes (ICD-9 code 250.xx) were matched on age group and sex. Study patients in these 2 groups were subdivided into 4 groups based on the presence of medical claims with diagnosis codes for MVD (acute myocardial infarction, other ischemic heart disease, coronary artery bypass surgery, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, congestive heart failure, cerebrovascular accident, peripheral vascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and peripheral vascular disease). Direct medical costs were aggregated for 12 months after the index date for patients in all 4 groups. Bootstrapping technique was used to compare the health care costs between patients with T2DM and those without diabetes, stratified by MVD status. RESULTS: A total of 9,059 patients with T2DM were identified and were matched by age group and sex to a random group of patients without diabetes. MVD was present in 26.9% (n=2,441) of patients with T2DM versus 11.3% (n=1,027) of patients without diabetes. Patients with MVD and T2DM were, on average, a year younger than patients with MVD but without diabetes (54.55 vs. 55.55 years, P <0.001). Patients with T2DM but without MVD were nearly the same age as patients with neither diabetes nor MVD (50.44 vs. 50.59 years, P=0.092). The T2DM patients with MVD had average 12-month costs more than 3 times the costs for patients with T2DM but without medical claims with diagnosis codes for MVD--10,450 dollars versus 3,385 dollars, respectively. Pharmacy costs accounted for 29.0% and inpatient hospital costs accounted for 43.9% of total medical costs in T2DM patients with MVD versus 55.0% and 17.3%, respectively, in T2DM patients without MVD. Patients with MVD diagnoses and T2DM had total average medical costs that were 1.7 times the total medical costs for MVD patients without T2DM--10,450 dollars versus 6,090 dollars, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this analysis suggest that MVD may triple the total medical care costs in patients with T2DM. These economic consequences would appear to support the importance of interventions intended to prevent macrovascular events in patients with T2DM.

Adult↗

Clinical process cost analysis.

BACKGROUND: New systems of reimbursement are exerting enormous pressure on clinicians and hospitals to reduce costs. Using cheaper supplies or reducing the length of stay may be a satisfactory short-term solution, but the best strategy for long-term success is radical reduction of costs by reengineering the processes of care. However, few clinicians or institutions know the actual costs of medical care; nor do they understand, in detail, the activities involved in the delivery of care. Finally, there is no accepted method for linking the two. METHODS: Clinical process cost analysis begins with the construction of a detailed flow diagram incorporating each activity in the process of care. The cost of each activity is then calculated, and the two are linked. This technique was applied to Diagnosis Related Group 75 to analyze the real costs of the operative treatment of lung cancer at one institution. RESULTS: Total costs varied between $6,400 and $7,700. The major driver of costs was personnel time, which accounted for 55% of the total. Forty percent of the total cost was incurred in the operating room. The cost of care decreased progressively during hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical process cost analysis provides detailed information about the costs and processes of care. The insights thus obtained may be used to reduce costs by reengineering the process.

Cost Control↗

The economic cost of epilepsy: a review of the literature.

Economic concerns are increasingly important in health system design, provider payment, and research funding decisions. Cost estimates are needed to provide insight into where the potential opportunities for cost-savings lie and to lay the groundwork for research to determine how to treat the disorder more effectively. The methods used by economists to estimate the direct and indirect costs of epilepsy are reviewed and results from studies in different countries are discussed. General patterns across patients with different types of conditions are reported. Gaps in the literature are identified and future research needs are assessed.

Adolescent↗

Cost-effectiveness analysis based on the atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance/low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion Triage Study (ALTS).

BACKGROUND: The ALTS (atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance [ASCUS] and low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion [LSIL] Triage Study) suggests that, for women diagnosed with ASCUS, human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing followed by referral to colposcopy of only those women with oncogenic HPV (i.e., HPV DNA testing) is as effective at detecting cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 3 or cancer (CIN3+) as referring all women with ASCUS for immediate colposcopy. We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis of the ALTS trial to determine whether HPV DNA testing is a cost-effective alternative to immediate colposcopy or conservative management with up to three cytology examinations. METHODS: Data from the ALTS trial were used in conjunction with medical care costs in a short-term decision model. The model compared the incremental costs per case of CIN3+ detected as measured by the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for the following management strategies for women with ASCUS: immediate colposcopy, HPV DNA testing, and conservative management with up to three cytology examinations. RESULTS: The least costly and least sensitive strategy was conservative management with one repeat cytology examination using a threshold of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) for referral to colposcopy. Compared with this strategy, triage to colposcopy based on a positive HPV DNA test result had an ICER of 3517 dollars per case of CIN3+ detected. Immediate colposcopy and conservative management with up to three repeat cytology visits detected fewer cases of CIN3+ and were more costly than HPV DNA testing. Immediate colposcopy became cost-effective at 20,370 dollars compared with HPV DNA testing only if colposcopy and biopsy were assumed to be 100% sensitive. CONCLUSIONS: HPV DNA testing is an economically viable strategy for triage of ASCUS cytology. The less than perfect sensitivity of colposcopy and biopsy needs to be accounted for in future clinical guidelines and policy analyses.

Adult↗

The costs to the NHS of multiple births after IVF treatment in the UK.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the cost to the NHS resulting from multiple pregnancies arising from IVF treatment in the UK, and to compare those costs with the cost to the NHS due to singleton pregnancies resulting from IVF treatment. DESIGN: A modelling study using data from published literature and cost data from national sources in the public domain, calculating direct costs from the diagnosis of a clinical pregnancy until the end of the first year after birth. SETTING: Academic Unit of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine. POPULATION: Theoretic core modelling study using data from published literature. METHODS: The analysis was based on the total annual number of births resulting from an IVF treatment in the UK. Main outcome measures total direct costs to the NHS per IVF singleton, twin or triplet family. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cost of singleton, twin and triplet IVF pregnancies in the UK. RESULTS: Total direct costs to the NHS per IVF twin or triplet family (maternal + infant costs) are substantially higher than per IVF singleton family (singleton: pounds 3313; twin: pounds 9122; and triplet: pounds 32,354). Multiple pregnancies after IVF are associated with 56% of the direct cost of IVF pregnancies, although they represent less than 1/3 of the total annual number of maternities in the UK. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple pregnancies after IVF are associated with high direct costs to the NHS. Redirection of money saved by implementation of a mandatory 'two embryo transfer' policy into increased provision of IVF treatment could double the number of NHS-funded IVF treatment cycles at no extra cost. Further savings could be made if a selective 'single embryo transfer' policy were to be adopted.

Decision Trees↗

Direct and indirect costs of refractory epilepsy in a tertiary epilepsy center in Germany.

PURPOSE: There are only few studies on the costs of epilepsy in Germany. Therefore, we performed a pilot study to estimate the direct and indirect costs of refractory epilepsy in a German epilepsy center. METHODS: A "prevalence-based," cross-sectional convenience sample of adults with active epilepsy attending the outpatient clinic of our tertiary epilepsy center was evaluated. Seizure-free patients and patients presenting with their first seizure were excluded. Direct and indirect costs were prospectively recorded over a three-month period using questionnaires and a patient diary. Cost driving factors were identified. RESULTS: One hundred one patients were included (40.7+/-15.2 years; disease duration: 18.1+/-15.3 years; 6 patients had focal epilepsy with simple partial seizures only, 28 with complex partial seizures, 43 with secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures; 20 had idiopathic generalized epilepsy with generalized tonic-clonic seizures). The total costs of epilepsy per patient were in average euro 2610+/-4200 over the three-month period. Direct cost contributed 39% to the total costs. Costs of anticonvulsant medication were the main contributor to the direct costs while indirect costs were caused mainly by losses due to early retirement. Cost driving factors included higher seizure frequency, longer disease duration, ictal falls, and situationally inappropriate complex behavior during or after the seizure. CONCLUSIONS: Indirect costs were higher than direct costs in adult patients with active epilepsy attending a German epilepsy center. Medication contributed the most to the direct costs and early retirement was the main factor for the indirect costs. The costs of poorly controlled epilepsy in this German study were above average of the European costs of epilepsy.

Adolescent↗

Clinical care costing method for the Clinical Care Classification System.

PURPOSE: To provide a means for calculating the cost of nursing care using the Clinical Care Classification System (CCCS). DATA SOURCES: Three CCCS indicators of care components, actions, and outcomes in conjunction with Clinical Care Pathways (CCPs). DATA SYNTHESIS: The cost of patient care is based on the type of action time multiplied by care components and nursing costs. CONCLUSIONS: The CCCM for the CCCS makes it possible to measure and cost out clinical practice. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The CCCM may be used with CCPs in the electronic patient medical record. The CCPs make it easy to track the clinical nursing care across time, settings, population groups, and geographical locations. Collected data may be used many times, allowing for improved documentation, analysis, and costing out of care.

Critical Pathways↗

Clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness of strategies for managing people at high risk for diabetes.

BACKGROUND: Lifestyle modification can forestall diabetes in high-risk people, but the long-term cost-effectiveness is uncertain. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the effects of the lifestyle modification program used in the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) on health and economic outcomes. DESIGN: Cost-effectiveness analysis using the Archimedes model. DATA SOURCES: Published basic and epidemiologic studies, clinical trials, and Kaiser Permanente administrative data. TARGET POPULATION: Adults at high risk for diabetes (body mass index >24 kg/m2, fasting plasma glucose level of 5.2725 to 6.9375 mmol/L [95 to 125 mg/dL], 2-hour glucose tolerance test result of 7.77 to 11.0445 mmol/L [140 to 199 mg/dL]). TIME HORIZON: 5 to 30 years. PERSPECTIVE: Patient, health plan, and societal. INTERVENTIONS: No prevention, DPP's lifestyle modification program, lifestyle modification begun after a person develops diabetes, and metformin. MEASUREMENTS: Diagnosis and complications of diabetes. RESULTS OF BASE-CASE ANALYSIS: Compared with no prevention program, the DPP lifestyle program would reduce a high-risk person's 30-year chances of getting diabetes from about 72% to 61%, the chances of a serious complication from about 38% to 30%, and the chances of dying of a complication of diabetes from about 13.5% to 11.2%. Metformin would deliver about one third the long-term health benefits achievable by immediate lifestyle modification. Compared with not implementing any prevention program, the expected 30-year cost/quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) of the DPP lifestyle intervention from the health plan's perspective would be about 143,000 dollars. From a societal perspective, the cost/QALY of the lifestyle intervention compared with doing nothing would be about 62,600 dollars. Either using metformin or delaying the lifestyle intervention until after a person develops diabetes would be more cost-effective, costing about 35,400 dollars or 24,500 dollars per QALY gained, respectively, compared with no program. Compared with delaying the lifestyle program until after diabetes is diagnosed, the marginal cost-effectiveness of beginning the DPP lifestyle program immediately would be about 201,800 dollars. RESULTS OF SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS: Variability and uncertainty deriving from the structure of the model were tested by comparing the model's results with the results of real clinical trials of diabetes and its complications. The most critical element of uncertainty is the effectiveness of the lifestyle program, as expressed by the 95% CI of the DPP study. The most important potentially controllable factor is the cost of the lifestyle program. Compared with no program, lifestyle modification for high-risk people can be made cost-saving over 30 years if the annual cost of the intervention can be reduced to about 100 dollars. LIMITATIONS: Results depend on the accuracy of the model. CONCLUSIONS: Lifestyle modification is likely to have important effects on the morbidity and mortality of diabetes and should be recommended to all high-risk people. The program used in the DPP study may be too expensive for health plans or a national program to implement. Less expensive methods are needed to achieve the degree of weight loss seen in the DPP.

Adult↗

Pharmacoeconomic issues in the treatment of depression.

The advent of newer, more expensive antidepressant agents in the past decade has focused renewed attention on major depressive disorder. The higher costs associated with purchasing the drugs makes their use appear to increase the cost of treating depression. Pharmacoeconomic methods are means of measuring the related advantages and costs, and provide guidance in drug selection. When such measures have been applied, the initial impression of increased costs for treating depressed persons with these agents is not supported. Pharmacoeconomic studies show that the newer antidepressants have clinically significant advantages that translate into lower total health system costs for treating major depressive disorder.

Antidepressive Agents↗

Costing out nursing services based on acuity.

Since nursing is a personnel intensive, high-budget department, nursing managers have recognized the need to monitor costs and identify potential areas for change in order to decrease expenditures. An effective acuity system can be used to not only efficiently determine appropriate staffing, but also to estimate direct nursing costs under diagnosis related group (DRG) reimbursement. This article describes a method for using patient acuity to determine direct nursing care costs in a DRG.

Accounting↗

Direct medical costs for patients with type 2 diabetes in Sweden.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the total direct medical costs to society for patients with type 2 diabetes in Sweden and to investigate how different factors, for example diabetic late complications, affect costs. DESIGN: Cross-sectional data regarding health care utilization, clinical characteristics and quality of life, were collected at a single time-point. Data on resource use cover the 6-month period prior to this time point. SETTING: Patient recruitment and data collection were performed in nine primary care centres in three main regions in Sweden. SUBJECTS: Only patients with an age at diabetes diagnosis >/= 30 years (type 2 diabetes) were included (n = 777). RESULTS: The total annual direct medical costs for the Swedish diabetes type 2 population were estimated at about 7 billion SEK (Swedish Kronor) in 1998 prices, which is about 6% of the total health care expenditures and more than four times higher than the former Swedish estimate obtained when using diabetes as main diagnosis for calculating costs. The annual per patient cost was about 25 000 SEK. The largest share of this cost was hospital inpatient care. Costs increased with diabetes duration and were higher for patients treated with insulin compared to those treated with oral hypoglycaemic drugs or with life style modification only. Patients with both macro- and microvascular complications had more than three times higher costs compared with patients without such complications. CONCLUSIONS: Type 2 diabetes is a serious and expensive disease and the key to reducing costs seems to be intensive management and control in order to prevent and delay the associated late complications.

Adult↗

The outpatient cost of diabetes care in Italian diabetes centers.

OBJECTIVE: To provide resource utilization patterns and cost estimates of outpatient care for types I and II diabetes mellitus in Italy, based on retrospectively collected data. DESIGN: Multicenter, retrospective observational study analyzing individual costs in a sample of patients with diabetes mellitus. STUDY POPULATION: A total of 2260 patients were stratified into eight groups by type of diabetes, glycemic control, and age. SETTING: Thirty-five centers for diabetes care in Italy. RESULTS: The per-patient cost of treatment was [symbol: see text] 136.8 in two months for type I diabetes (N = 592) and [symbol: see text] 123.3 for type II diabetes (N = 1668). Pharmaceutical therapy consisting of antidiabetic drugs only accounted for only 32% to 36% of treatments cost in type I patients and between 13% and 24% in type II. Diagnostic tests accounted for 27% to 42% of treatment costs in patients with both type I and type II diabetes, day-hospital days accounted for 15% to 22% in type I, 25% to 27% in type II, and consultations accounted for 16% to 20% in type I patients and between 17% and 21% in type II diabetes. CONCLUSION: Despite limitations caused by the short period considered, and considering that in Italy the cost of diabetes has received limited attention, we believe this study presents some interesting information on the burden of diabetes in this country.

Adolescent↗

Cost-effectiveness of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators.

BACKGROUND: Eight randomized trials have evaluated whether the prophylactic use of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) improves survival among patients who are at risk for sudden death due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction but who have not had a life-threatening ventricular arrhythmia. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of the ICD in the populations represented in these primary-prevention trials. METHODS: We developed a Markov model of the cost, quality of life, survival, and incremental cost-effectiveness of the prophylactic implantation of an ICD, as compared with control therapy, among patients with survival and mortality rates similar to those in each of the clinical trials. We modeled the efficacy of the ICD as a reduction in the relative risk of death on the basis of the hazard ratios reported in the individual clinical trials. RESULTS: Use of the ICD increased lifetime costs in every trial. Two trials--the Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Patch Trial and the Defibrillator in Acute Myocardial Infarction Trial (DINAMIT)--found that the prophylactic implantation of an ICD did not reduce the risk of death and thus was both more expensive and less effective than control therapy. For the other six trials--the Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial (MADIT) I, MADIT II, the Multicenter Unsustained Tachycardia Trial (MUSTT), the Defibrillators in Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathy Treatment Evaluation (DEFINITE) trial, the Comparison of Medical Therapy, Pacing, and Defibrillation in Heart Failure (COMPANION) trial, and the Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial (SCD-HeFT)--the use of an ICD was projected to add between 1.01 and 2.99 quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) and between 68,300 dollars and 101,500 dollars in cost. Using base-case assumptions, we found that the cost-effectiveness of the ICD as compared with control therapy in these six populations ranged from 34,000 dollars to 70,200 dollars per QALY gained. Sensitivity analyses showed that this cost-effectiveness ratio would remain below 100,000 dollars per QALY as long as the ICD reduced mortality for seven or more years. CONCLUSIONS: Prophylactic implantation of an ICD has a cost-effectiveness ratio below 100,000 dollars per QALY gained in populations in which a significant device-related reduction in mortality has been demonstrated.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗