OBJECTIVES : Up to 50% of Colombian inpatients are malnourished or at-risk of malnutrition. These patients experience poor health and economic outcomes. While nutrition care optimization through comprehensive programs for malnourished patients has been associated with improved outcomes and cost savings, little is known about the economic advantage of implementing similar programs in Colombian hospitals. We report the findings of a budget impact analysis evaluating the implementation of a comprehensive hospital-based nutrition program for malnourished Colombian patients.

METHODS : Budget impact analysis was mainly informed using outcomes data from Giraldo et al. (2015), and other secondary data sources. Outcomes of interests included length of stay, 30-day readmissions, and complications (infectious/non-infectious). A Markov model was developed where patients were assigned to receive nutrition support within 24-48 hours post hospital admission or continue without nutrition support. The model was set at 60-days time-horizon and all event probabilities were estimated from published data assuming a Poisson-like behavior. No discount rates were applied due to short-time horizon; costs are reported in US dollars.

RESULTS : Average total costs over 60-days were $3,626 for patients without nutrition support vs $2,328 for patients with nutrition support; thus, representing a savings of $1,298 (35.8% decrease) per patient. Differences in costs between the groups were: $2,600 vs $1,538 for hospital-associated costs; $850 vs $640 for readmissions; and $170 vs $91 for malnutrition-related complications, respectively. Potential total costs savings for 839,892 malnourished Colombian patients is $1.09 billion. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis supported the original findings.

CONCLUSIONS : Hospital-based nutrition programs can improve the health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs of malnourished hospitalized patients, whilst helping hospitals in Colombia with healthcare re­source management to provide optimal quality of nutrition care to their patients at a reduced overall cost. These results provide a rationale for implementation of comprehensive nutrition programs for the malnourished hospitalized Colombian population.