Patient and facility variation in costs of catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Cost-effectiveness or value of cardiovascular therapies may be undermined by unwarranted cost variation, particularly for heterogeneous procedures such as catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF). We sought to characterize cost variation of AF ablation in the US healthcare system and the relationship between cost and outcomes.

Methods and results

We performed a retrospective cohort study using data from the MarketScan^® commercial claims and Medicare supplemental databases including patients who received an AF ablation from 2007 to 2011. We aggregated encounter cost, reflecting total payments received for the encounter, to the facility level to calculate median facility cost. We classified procedures as outpatient or inpatient and assessed for asso

SUBMITTER: Perino AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6469652 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature