Influence factors of hospitalization expenses in a specialist hospital for cardiovascular disease

Objective To explore the cost of hospitalization for cardiovascular disease and analyze the main influence factors, so as to provide reference for the rational allocation of medical resources and control of medical expenses. Methods The basic information, medical expenses and related factors of 1 928 inpatients in Shanxi Cardiovascular Disease Specialist Hospital were collected. The factors influencing hospitalization expenses of patients with cardiovascular disease were analyzed by single factor and multiple linear regression. Results Among 1 928 patients, there were more males (1 094 cases) than females (834 cases) . The median length of hospital stay was 9 days (range, 1-65 days) , the median age was 63 years (range 7-94 years) , and the median hospital medical expenses was 11 554.32 yuan. The single factor analysis on main factors that affected the cost of hospitalization for cardiovascular disease showed that males were more than females, emergency cases were more than other admission route, cases ≥20 days of hospital stay were more than <20 days, patients taken surgery were more than those taken no surgery, patients in severe condition were more than not, patients with concomitant disease were more than those without concomitant disease or not quite clear, patients cured were more than not improved or dead, and patients with public medical care or self-paying were more than other payments (P all<0.01) . The analysis of multiple linear regression revealed that the effects influencing the hospital cost of patients with cardiovascular disease were gender, emergency visit, length of hospital stay, with or without surgery, severe case or not and public medical care/self-paying/other payment. The normalized regression coefficients were 0.05, 0.13, 0.47, 0.51, 0.05 and 0.03, respectively. Conclusions A strict control of surgical indications, a shorten of the hospital stay, and according to the admission route and the severity of the disease to choose a reasonable treatment program are suggested to reduce cardiovascular hospitalization costs and the economic burden of patients and society. Key words: Cardiovascular diseases; Hospital costs; Influence factors; Multiple linear regression