This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Patients with HF may have more doctor visits than average Medicare beneficiary
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Medicare beneficiaries with HF may also have higher costs of care and more prescriptions than average beneficiaries.
Patients with severe HF visited almost three times as many Medicare providers each year compared with an average beneficiary.
Researchers from the University of Colorado and Scios Inc. based their analysis on a sample size of 173,000 Medicare beneficiaries.
According to the researchers, adults with severe HF saw an average of 23 different providers compared with the average beneficiary (7.9). Adults with moderate HF saw 18.6 providers annually, and adults with mild HF saw 15.9 providers. Patients at all stages of HF had an average of 61 prescriptions written annually compared with 29 for the average beneficiary.
According to a press release, Medicare beneficiaries with HF accounted for 37% of all Medicare spending and almost 50% of all hospital inpatient costs in 2005.
In addition, the annual inpatient cost of treating a patient with severe HF was $24,000 compared with about $3,000 for the average beneficiary.
“These findings highlight the complexity of treating HF patients who often have serious comorbidities,” Robert Page, PharmD, an associate professor of clinical pharmacy and physical medicine at the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy and Medicine in Aurora, said in a press release.
“These findings stress the importance of developing comprehensive and coordinated care.”
For more information:
- Page R. #5921. Presented at American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2008; Nov. 8-12, 2008; New Orleans.
The Medicare burden of caring for patients with HF will only grow. Our population is aging rapidly and the baby boomers are entering Medicare. Initiatives to address the need for more efficient, coordinated care for patients with chronic illness like HF include outpatient disease management programs, often provided trans-telephonically by insurance companies, and the medical home model, in which a designated physician coordinates the multiple physicians and other providers of care to patients with HF. Cardiologists play a central role in these and other models, as the cardiologist may be one of the few in the chain to continuously care for these patients both in the inpatient and outpatient setting, and is responsible for some of the more costly aspects of care, such as resynchronization therapy and placement of automatic internal defibrillators. Institution of an electronic heath record and e-prescribing will also help in improving the care of patients with HF while controlling costs.
– Samuel L. Wann, MD
Cardiology Today Section Editor