Hospitalization Costs For Nausea And Vomiting: A Savings Opportunity.

155Background: Nausea and vomiting (NV) are tracked by CMS as 2 of 10 top drivers of potentially avoidable hospital admissions for patients with cancer. These admissions pose a savings opportunity, yet limited literature exists on the costs of chemotherapy-induced NV (CINV). Burke’s 2010 assessment of 19,139 patients from 2004-2007 found CINV hospitalizations cost $7,448 and comprised the majority of overall CINV events and costs vs ambulatory events. Rashid (2016) evaluated 1,682 patients with metastatic breast cancer from 2007-2011 and found CINV admissions cost $10,074 in 2013 US dollars. Using data from the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project website (HCUPnet), and after applying adjustment factors from recent literature, we evaluated the cost of NV hospitalizations. Methods: Data on US hospital discharges for NV (based on primary discharge diagnosis) were obtained for 2014 from HCUPnet. Charges were adjusted using Smith’s (2015) model showing commer...