Economic consequences of ACS-related rehospitalizations in the US.

Objective: To examine economic consequences related to rehospitalization following initial acute coronary syndrome (ACS) treatment in United States managed care settings.

Study Design: Retrospective observational studies.

Research Design And Methods: Retrospective observational studies were conducted on two managed care populations to examine medical encounter insurance claims and charges for ACS-related rehospitalizations following an index hospitalization for new onset ACS (2002-2007). All charges were adjusted to year 2007 United States Dollars (USDs).

Main Outcome Measures: The main outcomes for this study were the direct charges related to ACS rehospitalizations as captured in two separate medical encounter claims databases.

Results: Of the 11,266 ACS patients identified for analysis in the health system plan, 3588 (32%) had at least one ACS rehospitalization. Of the 97,177 ACS patients enrolled in the nationally representative managed care database, 32,578 (34%) had at least one ACS-related rehospitalization. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) was the strongest predictor of increased charges during the recurrence in both populations (p < 0.0001). When controlling for length of stay (LOS) in the model, CABG remained a significant predictor of increased charges, while percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and stent insertion became even stronger predictors of increased charges.

Conclusions: The costs associated with ACS-related rehospitalizations in a real-world setting are high, even when controlling for known cost drivers such as length of stay.