Hospital costs of Canadian cystic fibrosis patients

INTRODUCTION: CF is a genetic disease that can lead to significant morbidity. As the CF population increases and treatment regimens escalate in complexity, CF care costs are expected to rise and could put tremendous strain on health care systems. Our aim was to examine the hospitalization costs of Canadian CF patients. METHODS: We analyzed annual hospital costs for Canadian CF patients in 2014. Secondary objectives were to examine cost differences by patient characteristics and admitting diagnosis in 2014 and over time (from 2010 to 2014). Data were obtained from the Canadian Institute for Health Information for all patients with at least 1 hospital admission with a diagnostic code for CF. Costs were estimated in 2014 Canadian dollars using a case-mix aggregate costing strategy. RESULTS: In 2014, 953 of 2,702 (35%) Canadians with CF had 1,705 hospitalizations resulting in a total cost of approximately $32.1 million. Mean hospital cost per patient and mean cost per hospitalization were $34,982 and $19,677, respectively. Mean cost per hospitalization was highest among those admitted for pneumothorax ($22,685), CF pulmonary exacerbation ($21,130) and distal intestinal obstruction syndrome ($18,788). Between 2010 and 2014, the total cost of all hospitalizations for CF patients increased by 17% ($27.4 to $32.1 million). CONCLUSION: Canadian CF hospitalizations are costly; these costs vary by type of admitting diagnosis and are increasing over time. These national estimates will inform health care planning as well as future cost effectiveness analyses for CF interventions.