Real-World Study Showed Cost Savings for VTE Prophylaxis with Enoxaparin Compared with Unfractionated Hep...(re costs for the acute event and additio...),Health

About the Study

This large scale U.S. real-world health outcomes study compared the total direct medical costs associated with VTE prophylaxis with enoxaparin and UFH in the inpatient setting. Enoxaparin, a low molecular weight heparin, and UFH are the two most frequently studied pharmacological VTE prophylaxis options. Hospital discharge and billing records were extracted from the Premier Inc. healthcare alliance Perspective(TM) database (January 2002-December 2006). The primary outcome was the total direct medical costs for discharges that were at risk of VTE and received enoxaparin or UFH. A total of 894,364 discharge records met the study inclusion criteria, of which 39.4% received enoxaparin and 60.6% received UFH. The average total direct medical costs per discharge for the UFH group were $6,443 compared to a statistically significant decrease of costs for the enoxaparin group at $5,363 (P<0.001).

While UFH is less expensive for hospitals to purchase, this study showed that this initial drug acquisition savings did not result in overall savings for hospitals. In fact, the study showed that despite higher drug acquisition costs, inpatient VTE prophylaxis with enoxaparin was associated with hospital cost savings.

Inclusion criteria included records of patients who were aged greater than or equal to 40 years at index admission; had a complete hospital stay (both an admission and discharge date, and a discharge status other than expired or unknown); had received VTE prophylaxis at any time during their index hospitalization; and had a primary diagnosis of cancer, congestive heart failure, severe infectious disease, lung disease, major orthopedic surgery, or abdominal surgery. Exclusion criteria included records of patients who had an inpatient or outpatient diagnosis of VTE during the 12-month pre-inde
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