Acute care costs of patients admitted for management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations: contribution of disease severity, infection and chronic heart failure.

BACKGROUND: In 2003, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) accounted for 46% of the burden of chronic respiratory disease in the Australian community. In the 65-74-year-old age group, COPD was the sixth leading cause of disability for men and the seventh for women. AIMS: To measure the influence of disease severity, COPD phenotype and comorbidities on acute health service utilization and direct acute care costs in patients admitted with COPD.
METHODS: Prospective cohort study of 80 patients admitted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 2001-2002 for an exacerbation of COPD. Patients were followed for 12 months and data were collected on acute care utilization. Direct hospital costs were derived using Transition II, an activity-based costing system. Individual patient costs were then modelled to ascertain which patient factors influenced total direct hospital costs.
RESULTS: Direct costs were calculated for 225 episodes of care, the median cost per admission was AU$3124 (interquartile range $1393 to $5045). The median direct cost of acute care management per patient per year was AU$7273 (interquartile range $3957 to $14 448). In a multivariate analysis using linear regression modelling, factors predictive of higher annual costs were increasing age (P= 0.041), use of domiciliary oxygen (P= 0.008) and the presence of chronic heart failure (P= 0.006).
CONCLUSION: This model has identified a number of patient factors that predict higher acute care costs and awareness of these can be used for service planning to meet the needs of patients admitted with COPD.