The following is a summary of “Healthcare costs among patients with hematologic malignancies receiving allogeneic transplants: a US payer perspective,” published in the December 2023 issue of Hematology by Maziarz et al.
Patients diagnosed with hematologic malignancies and undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (allo-HCT) face substantial healthcare demands. Utilizing the Merative® MarketScan® Commercial Claims and Encounters Database spanning from 2016 Q1 to 2020 Q2, researchers analyzed to quantify the costs associated with care and evaluated real-world complication rates among commercially insured individuals in the United States aged 12 to 64 years who underwent inpatient allo-HCT for hematologic malignancies.
The study group examined healthcare resource utilization and expenses from 100 days before the HCT procedure to 100 days after. The primary hospitalization period was defined from the HCT date to the first discharge. Complication incidence was evaluated using medical billing codes recorded from the HCT date to 100 days post-HCT. Their analysis involved 1,082 patients, with graft sources including peripheral blood (79%), bone marrow (11%), and umbilical cord blood (3%). During the initial 100 days post-HCT, 52% of patients experienced acute graft-versus-host disease, while 21% had cytomegalovirus infections. The median length of stay for the primary hospitalization was 28 days, and 31% required readmission within the first 100 days post-HCT. Throughout the transplant period (ranging from 14 days pre-transplant to 100 days post-transplant), 44% of patients were admitted to the intensive care unit, with a median stay of 29 days. Among those enrolled in noncapital health plans (n = 937), the median per-patient healthcare costs for all causes during the transplant period were $331,827.
Primary hospitalization and readmission substantially contributed to these costs. Notably, the projected median incremental costs for each additional day spent in an inpatient setting increased as the length of stay extended, underscoring the potential cost reduction benefits associated with shorter primary hospitalization and avoiding readmissions in the context of allo-HCT care.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2473952923006742