Twelve-month healthcare utilization and expenditures in Medicare fee-for-service patients with clinically significant mitral regurgitation

One-Year Healthcare Utilization and Expenditures Among Patients with Clinically Significant Mitral Regurgitation in Taiwan

INTRODUCTION

Mitral regurgitation (MR) is characterized by systolic blood flow reversal from the left ventricle to the left atrium. A 2019 study indicated that in the USA, clinically significant MR (sMR) is associated with a substantial healthcare cost burden. In Taiwan, few data are available to describe the clinical characteristics, treatment patterns, and economic burden of patients with sMR.

METHODS

Using the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD), a national, detailed claims database of all 23 million residents of Taiwan, we conducted a retrospective cohort study to identify patients with sMR and quantify the impact of the disease on Taiwan's healthcare system. We classified patients with sMR into three cohorts based on disease etiology: functional MR (sFMR), degenerative MR (sDMR), and uncharacterized MR (sUMR).

RESULTS

We compared patient characteristics across cohorts and estimated attributable healthcare utilization and costs during the 12-month follow-up period. Our research shows that in Taiwan, patients with sFMR were older, sicker, and presented at casualty (emergency department) more frequently than those with sDMR and sUMR. Meanwhile, patients with sDMR had the highest 12-month healthcare expenditures across the cohorts.

CONCLUSION

These findings are inconsistent with what has been shown in the USA, which warrants further investigation.

Operator and Institutional Requirements for Transcatheter Mitral Valve Therapies in Australia: a CSANZ and ANZSCTS Position Statement

The expert Position Statement is a description of the requirements for Accreditation for transcatheter mitral valve therapy (TMVT) in Australia. The requirements include the need for a multidisciplinary Heart Team review of individual cases, mandatory reporting of outcome data to a national TMVT Registry, and accreditation of individuals and institutions by the Conjoint Accreditation Committee, the assigned accreditation authority.