Temporal trends in early clinical outcomes and health care resource utilization for liver transplantation in the United States.
Journal Article (Journal Article)
INTRODUCTION: Procedures such as liver transplantation, which entail large costs while benefiting only a small percentage of the population, are being increasingly scrutinized by third-party payors. The purpose of our study was to conduct a longitudinal analysis of the early clinical outcomes and health care resource utilization for liver transplantation in the United States. METHODS: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample database was used to conduct a longitudinal analysis of the clinical outcome and resource utilization data for liver transplantation procedures in adult recipients performed in the United States over three time periods (Period I: 1988-1993; Period II: 1994-1998: Period III: 1999-2003). RESULTS: Compared to Period I, adult liver transplant recipients were more likely to be male, older, and non-White in Period III. Recipients were more likely to have at least one major comorbidity preoperatively than in Period I. The in-hospital mortality rate after liver transplantation decreased significantly from Period I to Period III, but the major intraoperative and postoperative complication rates increased over the same time period. Mean length of hospital stay decreased over the 15-year period, but the percentage of patients with a non-routine discharge status increased. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that the rate of postoperative complications and non-routine discharges after liver transplantation is increasing. However, these negative changes in the cost-outcomes relationship for liver transplantation are balanced by improving postoperative survival rates and reductions in the length of hospital stay.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Scarborough, JE; Pietrobon, R; Marroquin, CE; Tuttle-Newhall, JE; Kuo, PC; Collins, BH; Desai, DM; Pappas, TN
Published Date
- January 1, 2007
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 11 / 1
Start / End Page
- 82 - 88
PubMed ID
- 17390192
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 1091-255X
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1007/s11605-007-0103-5
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States