Cost-effectiveness of nurse-led disease management for heart failure in an ethnically diverse urban community.

BACKGROUND Randomized, controlled trials have shown that nurse-led disease management for patients with heart failure can reduce hospitalizations. Less is known about the cost-effectiveness of these interventions. OBJECTIVE To estimate the cost-effectiveness of a nurse-led disease management intervention over 12 months, implemented in a randomized, controlled effectiveness trial. DESIGN Cost-effectiveness analysis conducted alongside a randomized trial. DATA SOURCES Medical costs from administrative records, and self-reported quality of life and nonmedical costs from patient surveys. PARTICIPANTS Patients with systolic dysfunction recruited from ambulatory clinics in Harlem, New York. TIME HORIZON 12 months. PERSPECTIVE Societal and payer. INTERVENTION 12-month program that involved 1 face-to-face encounter with a nurse and regular telephone follow-up. OUTCOME MEASURES Quality of life as measured by the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 and EuroQol-5D and cost-effectiveness as measured by the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). RESULTS OF BASE-CASE ANALYSIS Costs and quality of life were higher in the nurse-managed group than the usual care group. The ICERs over 12 months were $17,543 per EuroQol-5D-based quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) and $15,169 per Health Utilities Index Mark 3-based QALY (in 2001 U.S. dollars). RESULTS OF SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS From a payer perspective, the ICER ranged from $3673 to $4495 per QALY. Applying national prices in place of New York City prices yielded a societal ICER of $13,460 to $15,556 per QALY. Cost-effectiveness acceptability curves suggest that the intervention was most likely cost-effective for patients with less severe (New York Heart Association classes I to II) heart failure. LIMITATION The trial was conducted in an ethnically diverse, inner-city neighborhood; thus, results may not be generalizable to other communities. CONCLUSION Over 12 months, the nurse-led disease management program was a reasonably cost-effective way to reduce the burden of heart failure in this community.