OBJECTIVES

: Resource allocation and cost have become essential measures when assessing new technologies in burn care. To help providers make these assessments, the BEACON model was developed in 2018 using National Burn Repository (NBR) data. In BEACON, cost reductions for the treatment of severe burns using the new innovation autologous skin cell suspension (ASCS) were largely attributed to reductions in length of stay (LOS). Our study seeks to confirm these results by performing a multicenter, real-world data (RWD) analysis of LOS and resulting costs for patients treated with ASCS vs. standard of care (SOC).

METHODS

: De-identified electronic medical record data was collected over a 20-month period (1/2019 to 8/2020) from 43 burn centers in 14 states. Patients with burn injuries treated with ASCS were matched by age, gender, total body surface area (TBSA), and comorbidities to patients treated by current SOC treatment. Injury severity was calculated as categorical data with intervals: < 10%, 10-19%, 20-29%, 30-39%, and 40-49% TBSA. Cost analysis was determined using prior peer-reviewed literature in burn care.

RESULTS

: A total of 2,438 patients were reviewed, and 162 were used in the matched cohort analysis (n=81 per cohort). In these patients, 78% had < 20% TBSA. Compared to SOC, ASCS patients had a shorter LOS by 3.3 days. At an assumed per-patient hospital bed cost of $6,795 per day, these differences in LOS produced a savings of over $22,424 in hospital bed costs alone per ASCS patient versus SOC. LOS was shorter for ASCS patients in 67% of cases resulting in an overall savings of $1,807,470 for ASCS-treated patients compared to SOC.

CONCLUSIONS

: Our study is the largest RWD cost- analysis of ASCS vs SOC. This analysis corroborates the BEACON model with savings primarily originating from reducing LOS, even for small burns with 78% of patients having burns less than 20% TBSA.