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We estimated the hospital costs for patients with different cerebrovascular events and applied patient and administrative variable to explain the variance of the cost estimates with particular attention to the relationship between patient age and cost.The study sample was drawn from an administrative data set of all hospital discharges from five academic medical center for the 1992 calender year.The mean cost per discharge for each subgroup was as follows:SAH,$39,994(n=218);ICH,$21,535 (n=258);ICH,$1,396;ICI,$1.036;TIA,$1,117.Length of stay as a measure of resource use was strongly predictive of inpatient cost,explaining 72 to 82%of the variation in cost.Demographic variables(i.e.,age,gender,race, insurance status),however,revealed virtually no predictive power, accounting for less than 10%of the variance in each of the four subgroups. There are substantial differences in the patient-level cost of hospital services for stroke-related events.After controlling for the type of cerebrovascular event,basic demographic variable and insurance status (including Medicare)contribute little to the total cost of inpatient care. More important factors likely include stroke severity,social factors,and clinical practice variations. |
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