Short-Term Excess Healthcare Costs Associated with Cardiovascular Events Among Adults with Type 2 Diabetes in Israel: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Objective The aim was to characterise the short-term (up to 12 months) direct economic burden of new cardiovascular (CV) events among adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Israel. Methods In this retrospective cohort study utilising the electronic health records of the Maccabi Healthcare Services, adults aged ≥ 21 years with T2D who experienced their first CV event (2013–2016) were identified via adjudicated enrolment in a CV registry. Wilcoxon rank-sum test estimated excess healthcare resource utilisation in three periods after the CV event: immediate (1 month; for all patients), acute (3 months; for survivors of 1 month of follow-up) and short-term (12 months; for survivors of 3 months of follow-up). Direct healthcare expenditure (2018 United States dollars [USD]) was estimated from unit costs from the State of Israel Ministry of Health price list. Results In total, 5133 adults experienced a qualifying CV event, with a mean (standard deviation [SD]) age of 67.4 (11.8) years, diabetes duration of 17.7 (11.1) years and glycated haemoglobin of 7.4% (1.6%); 38.0% were female. In USD per patient, mean (SD) immediate costs were $10,741 ($11,707) compared with $2820 ($5661) at baseline (cost ratio [CR] 3.81), acute costs were $14,586 ($15,410) compared with $5202 ($8971) at baseline (CR 2.80) and short-term costs were $23,847 ($25,227) compared with $11,123 ($15,990) at baseline (CR 2.14). A sensitivity analysis of survivors only was consistent with the main analysis. Conclusions Our results indicate that CV complications of T2D place a substantial excess economic burden on Israel’s healthcare system over the short term (up to 12 months).