Mehul Jhaveri

Hospital readmissions in US atrial fibrillation patients: occurrence and costs.

The aim of the study was to examine the temporal readmission pattern, proportion of readmissions attributed to cardiovascular (CV) causes, and the duration and costs associated with readmission in hospitalized patients with atrial fibrillation/flutter (AF/AFL). This retrospective cohort study used medical claims data from the PharMetrics Patient-Centric database (IMS Health, Watertown, MA) between January 2007 and March 2008. The patients hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of AF/AFL and with ≥12 months’ continuous medical and prescription coverage before and after the initial AF/AFL hospitalization were identified from this database. The main outcome measures were rehospitalization patterns [all-cause, all CV-related (including AF/AFL), and AF/AFL-related only], which were assessed over the 12-month post-index period, and costs of initial and subsequent AF/AFL-related hospitalizations that were compared. The study included 8035 patients with AF/AFL (mean age 66.1 years; 57.6% males). Rehospitalization was common (37.9% of patients), with the most frequent causes being CV (34.1%) and, specifically, AF/AFL-related (26.8%). The highest proportion of rehospitalizations occurred within 30 days of the initial hospitalization (25%). Readmissions with a primary diagnosis of AF/AFL (n = 1238) were significantly longer (4.0 vs. 3.6 days; P = 0.0229) and more costly (US

Incremental cost burden to US healthcare payers of atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter patients with additional risk factors

8966 vs. US

Healthcare cost attributable to recently-diagnosed breast cancer in a privately-insured population in the United States.

7080; P < 0.0001) than the index hospitalization. Hospitalized AF/AFL patients experience high rates of CV- and AF/AFL-related readmissions, particularly within the first 30 days. Subsequent AF/AFL-related readmissions incur higher costs than the initial AF/AFL hospitalization. Treatments resulting in reduced readmissions would improve patient outcomes, quality of life and the cost burden associated with AF/AFL.

Development and Validation of Algorithms to Identify Statin Intolerance in a US Administrative Database

IntroductionAtrial fibrillation (AF) and atrial flutter (AFL) patients often have cardiovascular (CV) comorbidities, and have an increased risk of hospitalization and death. Little is known about the real-world cost burden of AF/AFL patients with additional risk factors (ARF). We evaluated the medical resource use and cost burden of AF/AFL patients with ≥1 ARF (other than heart failure [HF]), in comparison with non-AF/AFL controls.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study included patients from the MarketScan Medicare database who had ≥1 inpatient or ≥2 outpatient AF/AFL claims. Patients were (1) ≥75 years of age or (2) 70–74 years of age with ≥1 ARF (hypertension, diabetes, systemic embolism, or stroke/transient ischemic attack), but without HF. The AF/AFL patients were matched on age, gender, region, and enrollment status with non-AF/AFL patients. Hospital resource use and costs over the 12-month post-index period were compared across cohorts. The impacts of comorbidity were seen by subcategorizing hospitalization as all-cause, CV-related, and AF/AFL-related.ResultsAF/AFL patients with ≥1 ARF had a higher prevalence of comorbidity than non-AF/AFL patients (n=58,555/cohort). Hospitalizations (all-causality) were more than three times more frequent and of longer duration in AF/AFL patients with ≥1 ARF than in non-AF/AFL controls (mean [SD]: 0.72 [0.87] vs. 0.21 [0.51] hospitalizations per patient per year and 3.85 [9.30] and 1.03 [4.53] days, respectively; both P<0.0001). Overall mean (SD) costs over the 12-month post-index period were higher in AF/AFL patients with ≥1 ARF versus the non-AF/AFL control patients for inpatient (

Temporal pattern and costs of rehospitalization in atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter patients with one or more additional risk factors

9613 [25,407] vs.

Cost-effectiveness of dronedarone and standard of care compared with standard of care alone: US results of an ATHENA lifetime model.

2625 [11,597]; P<0.0001; incremental cost

Estimation of potential cost savings associated with reduced rates of cardiovascular hospitalization among atrial fibrillation/flutter patients treated with dronedarone in the ATHENA trial.

6988), outpatient (

Impact of Dronedarone Treatment on Healthcare Resource Utilization in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation/Flutter

9447 [15,062] vs.

Abstract 280: Defining Statin Intolerance Among High Cardiovascular Risk Patients: Do US Administrative Databases Lend Themselves to Identification Of Statin Intolerance?

4906 [11,715]; P<0.0001; incremental cost

Abstract 140: Effectiveness Of Dronedarone Among US Patients With Atrial Fibrillation/Flutter In The Real-World Setting

4541), and prescription drug costs (