Economic burden of hospitalizations of Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the costs associated with the hospitalization and the cumulative 30-, 60-, and 90-day readmission rates in a cohort of Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure (HF). METHODS: This was a retrospective, observational study based on data from the national 5% sample of Medicare beneficiaries. Inpatient data were gathered for Medicare beneficiaries with at least one HF-related hospitalization between July 1, 2005, and December 31, 2011. The primary end point was the average per-patient cost of hospitalization for individuals with HF. Secondary end points included the cumulative rate of hospitalization, the average length of hospital stay, and the cumulative 30-, 60-, and 90-day readmission rates. RESULTS: Data from 63, 678 patients with a mean age of 81. 8 years were included in the analysis. All costs were inflated to 2, 015 based on the medical care component of the Consumer Price Index. The mean per-patient cost of an HF-related hospitalization was 14, 631. The mean per-patient cost of a cardiovascular (CV) -related or all-cause hospitalization was 16, 000 and 15, 924, respectively. The cumulative rate of all-cause hospitalization was 218. 8 admissions per 100 person-years, and the median length of stay for HF-related, CV-related, and all-cause hospitalizations was 5 days. Also, 22. 3% of patients were readmitted within 30 days, 33. 3% were readmitted within 60 days, and 40. 2% were readmitted within 90 days. CONCLUSION: The costs associated with hospitalization for Medicare beneficiaries with HF are substantial and are compounded by a high rate of readmission.