OBJECTIVES: VTE, that includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), affects 10 million people/year worldwide, being the second most common medical complication and a cause of excess length of hospital stay. Its incidence and economic burden are expected to increase as the population ages. This study examined the cost of patients care from an HMO perspective.

METHODS: Using administrative databases, we identified all incident cases of DVT/PE from September/2019-August/2022. Annual rates of healthcare utilization and expenditure were categorized into patients treated with anticoagulants alone group, a sort of advanced therapies (AT) group (systemic thrombolysis (ST), catheter directed thrombolysis (CDT), mechanical thrombectomy (MT) or surgical embolectomy (SE)), and other treatments group. Descriptive summary statistics were produced, stratified by groups and statical test used to compare cost (significance p<.05).

RESULTS: From total of 11,145 admitted, 437 patients (3.9%) were diagnosed with VTE–286 women and 151 men, mean(SD) ages of 72.5(15.3) and 73.9(14.0) years, respectively. Treatment consisted of anticoagulation alone were 80.5% of cases, AT were performed in 13 cases (3.0%) and 16.5% with other treatments. The VTE all-cause mortality in 36 months was 21.7%. Inpatient treatment, post-acute therapies, including rehabilitation, imaging and lab investigations cost were USD$9,628 per patient/year in anticoagulation alone group, USD$20,020 for AT and USD$2,238 for other treatments (p<.0001). In AT patients, the mean length of stay in the hospital after the procedure was 13.9 days.

CONCLUSIONS: In the past decades, several changes in the prevention, diagnostic strategies, and management of venous thrombosis have been achieved. Costs for VTE treatment are considerable and increasing faster than general inflation for medical care services, with hospitalization costs being the primary cost driver. Results observed reinforce the need for targeted prevention of risk factors for VTE and improvements in in-hospital management to decrease morbimortality and optimize allocations of resources.