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Internationally, hospital readmissions have a great appeal as an indicator of hospital quality. Since possibilities in prevention and control exist, reducing rates of hospital readmission has attracted attention of policymakers as a way to improve quality of care while simultaneously reducing costs. Therefore reducing the number of readmissions is considered to be a pillar of more cost-effective hospital care. The goal of this study was to estimate the cost of hospital readmissions at a national level, describe differences in readmission rates between hospitals and to calculate the potential monetary savings of reducing excess readmissions.Stays data were obtained from the Minimum Basic Data Set 2008 in a sample of 45 hospitals representing 16,141 beds. Readmissions were identified as a second admission for the same patient with the same APR-DRG code within 1 month or 3 months after discharge. Hospital type, diagnosis-related group, age and gender were used as matching factors in comparing readmission rates. Specific types of readmissions that occur naturally in each other's proximity due to the repeating nature of the therapy were excluded from the analysis. The costs per readmission were then calculated by linking the stays data with the cost data per APR-DRG and per severity index using the 2008 national feedback. The results of our sample were then extrapolated to all Belgian hospitals in order to calculate the total cost of readmissions. By means of a sensitivity analysis we estimated potential monetary savings when a reduction in the incidence of readmissions in hospitals having a higher readmission rate in comparison to other hospitals would be realized.In our sample 1.5% readmissions within 1 month after discharge and 2.1% within 3 months after discharge were identified. The additional weighted mean cost of these readmissions was Euro 3,495.58 within 1 month and Euro 3,572.20 within 3 months. The total financial burden, as extrapolated to the Belgian setting, is estimated at Euro 280,091,471.The wide variability between hospitals in incidence of readmissions (1.17-6.40%) indicates a potential for improvement. For instance, if all Belgian hospitals having a higher readmission rate improve their rate to the level of the hospital corresponding to percentile 75 (= 2.4% readmissions) savings would amount to Euro 14,118,509.The observed incidence of readmissions is associated with important additional healthcare costs. Although not all readmissions can be prevented, there is clearly a potential to increase cost-effectiveness of hosp tal care delivery.

Trastuzumab (Herceptin, Roche) is a recombinant, humanized monoclonal antibody directed against the neu-HER2 protein, since May 2002 reimbursed in Belgium for the treatment of metastatic HER2+ breast cancer and since June 2007 also in adjuvant therapy of HER2+ early stage breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to estimate the cost-effectiveness from the Belgian health care payer perspective of reimbursing trastuzumab in the Latter indication. A Markov state transition model was designed to adequately capture the natural history and course of disease for early stage breast cancer patients, and to simulate cost and disease progression over a life time perspective. The model estimates differences in outcomes for patients treated with adjuvant trastuzumab during 1 year compared to current therapy, and captures cost consequences and health benefits of trastuzumab treatment. Health benefits were expressed in terms of quality-adjusted life years gained, and future benefits were discounted at 1.5%. Costs were calculated from the perspective of the Belgian authorities' health care budget, and future costs were discounted at 3%. Where relevant, the costs per Markov state were obtained from the IMS Hospital Disease database. Additionally, an expert opinion analysis on resource use during the follow-up of treated early breast cancer patients provided the cost estimates for states with minor or without hospital costs. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio based on a life time simulation was estimated at Euro 10,315 per quality-adjusted life year gained. It can be concluded that trastuzumab treatment of HER2+ early stage breast cancer patients is cost-effective from the perspective of the Belgian health care authorities.

Assessment of short-term outcome in critically-ill patients who develop acute kidney injury (AKI) may underestimate the true burden of disease. It is important to focus on long-term survival, renal recovery and quality of life beyond hospital discharge. Although the majority of critically-ill patients with AKI die during hospital stay, there is only a minor increase in mortality after hospital discharge among AKI patients treated in the intensive care unit (ICU). Estimates of mortality rates at 1 year following hospital discharge range from 57% to 78% with an absolute difference between hospital mortality and 1-year mortality ranging from 4% to 18%. Renal recovery is another important measure of outcome since chronic renal replacement therapy (RRT) does not only significantly affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL), it is also costly. Fortunately, renal recovery occurs in most AKI survivors leading to independence of RRT at 1 year following hospital discharge. Potential factors associated with reduced recovery of renal function are female sex, high comorbidity, older age, a parenchymal aetiology of AKI, late initiation of RRT, and use of intermittent haemodialysis (IHD). HRQoL in survivors of critical illness and severe AKI is perceived as acceptable and good, despite the fact that HRQoL scores are lower than these of the general population.

Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs) are considered to be one of the most serious patient safety issues in healthcare today. It has been shown that HAIs contribute significantly not only to morbidity and mortality, but also to excessive costs for the health care system and for hospitalized patients. Since possibilities of prevention and control exist, hospital quality can be improved while simultaneously the cost of care is reduced. The objectives of this study were to examine the prevalence and the excess costs associated with HAIs.A retrospective observational study was performed to estimate costs associated with hospital-acquired infections in Belgian hospitals, both in procedural admissions and in medical admissions. Hospital, diagnosis-related group, age and gender were used as matching factors to compare stays associated with HAIs and stays without HAIs. Data were obtained from the Minimum Basic Data Set 2008 used by Belgian hospitals to register case-mix data for each admission to obtain reimbursement from the authorities. Data included information from 45 hospitals representing 16,141 beds and 2,467,698 patient stays. Using the 2008 national feedback programme of the Belgian government, cost data were collected (prolonged length of stay, additional pharmaceuticals and procedures) and subsequently linked to the data set. By means of a sensitivity analysis we estimated potential monetary savings when a reduction in the incidence of HAIs in hospitals having a higher rate of hospital-acquired infections in comparison to other hospitals would be realized.In our sample 5.9% of the hospital stays were associated with a hospital-acquired infection. In the procedural admission subset this was the case for 4.7% of the hospital stays. The additional mean cost of the hospital-acquired infection was Euro 2,576 for all stays (P0.001) and Euro 3,776 for procedural stays (P0.001). The total burden of disease in Belgium is estimated at Euro 533,076,110 for all admissions and Euro 235,667,880 for the subset of procedural admissions. The excess length of stay varied between hospitals from 2.52 up to 8.06 days (Md 4.58, SD 1.01), representing an associated cost of Euro 355,060,174 (66.61% of the total cost). The cost of additional medical procedures and additional pharmaceutical products was estimated at Euro 62,864,544 (11.97%) and Euro 115,151,939 (21.60%) respectively. Overall, our results showed that considerable variability between hospitals regarding the incidence of HAIs (3.77-9.78%) for all hospital stays is present, indicating a potential for improvement. We provide a full overview of the potential monetary savings when reductions in HAIs are realized by applying different thresholds. For instance, if all Belgian hospitals having a higher rate of hospital-acquired infections improve their rate to the level of the hospital corresponding to percentile 75 (= 7.5% HAL) savings would be Euro 17,799,326.HALs are associated with important additional healthcare costs. Although not all hospital-acquired infections can be prevented, an opportunity to increase cost-effectiveness of hospital care delivery presents itself. This study is the first to estimate the annual economic burden of HALs for Belgium at a national level, incorporating all associated hospital costs. Apart from the fact that the cost of prolonged length of stay is of major importance, we have also shown that the cost of additional procedures and pharmaceutical products cannot be neglected when estimating the financial burden of HAIs.