The HFSA Advocacy Committee developed the review to support their advocacy of high-value care and to provide a roadmap for maximizing benefits for patients with heart failure within a limited health care budget. It highlights the economic impact of heart failure exploring hospitalization trends, readmission, transitions of care, outpatient trends, disparities, and the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Currently, the annual cost for caring for a heart failure patient is around $30,000 in America, according to the researcher’s analysis, with this in mind the cost is expected to be at least $70 billion annually by 2030, with the total cost of caring for patients reaching $160 billion. The largest burden is from hospitalizations and readmissions, with 75-80% of the direct costs being attributable to inpatient hospital stays.
“Despite remarkable recent advances in the treatment of heart failure, the high cost of care limits delivery of effective care,” said Paul Heidenreich, MD, MS, lead author, Chair of the HFSA Advocacy Committee and Professor and Vice-Chair for Quality in the Department of Medicine at Stanford University. “This review pulls together the summary of evidence to allow for decision making that leads to the best results for patients’ health and the healthcare system.”
Economic Issues in Heart Failure in the United States sheds light on the important role of price, cost-effectiveness, and the value of diagnosis and treatment, which HFSA and JCF leadership recognize as critical components of caring for patients with heart failure.
The paper Economic Issues in Heart Failure in the United States was published online in the Journal of Cardiac Failure, the official journal of the Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) and the Japanese Heart Failure Society (JHFS). It will be published in the March 2022 print issue. It can be accessed via the JCF online or the HFSA Scientific Statements webpage.
Coauthors: Paul A. Heidenreich MD, MS; Gregg C. Fonarow MD; Yekaterina Opsha PharmD BCPS- AQ Cardiology; Alexander T. Sandhu MD; Nancy K. Sweitzer MD, PhD; Haider J. Warraich MD