OBJECTIVES: Long maturation times and high failure rates are well documented with surgical AVF for hemodialysis access. Post-creation interventions are commonly required to facilitate maturation and maintain function. This study assessed the difference in AVF post-creation maintenance and associated costs between patients using surgical AVF and new endovascular AVF. METHODS: Demographic and clinical information of patients with endovascular AVF were obtained from the single-arm Novel Endovascular Access Trial (NEAT). The 5% random sample from the Medicare Standard Analytical Files (SAFs) were used to assess the post-creation interventions and their costs for patients receiving surgical AVF during 2011-2013. The date of surgical AVF creation was defined as the index date and continuous Medicare enrollment during the 6-months prior-index and 6-month follow-up was required. Patients’ follow-up inpatient, outpatient, and physician claims were examined to identify AVF maintenance procedures and to estimate average cost for each procedure. Medicare patients were matched to 60 NEAT patients with one-to-one propensity score matching using prior-index demographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: