Calculating and Using Economic Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) for Health Promotion

Scott Grosse, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Guijing Wang, PhD, CDC Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention
Isaac Nwaise, CDC Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention
Herng-Leh Yuan, MPH, Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Facilitator: Nancy Williams, MPH, CDC Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention

Session Objective

The objectives for this session are to:

Understand and know how to interpret cost data such as charges, expenditures, direct costs, and indirect costs.
Identify relevant sources of data for analyzing medical costs attributable to CVD and be aware of the strengths and limitations of different datasets and types of analysis.
Become familiar with individual-level health claims and hospital discharge datasets.
Understand what data sources are available and what cost estimates are needed at State level.
Understand how CDC/HDSP can help States estimate direct costs as well as indirect costs.

Session Summary

The economic burden of chronic diseases among adults is comprised of direct medical costs, other direct costs associated with care, including patient and informal caregiver time costs, and the “indirect” costs of lost economic productivity among affected people due to premature death and disability. The calculation of attributable costs requires representative data on health care utilization and expenditures or costs for both people with and without disease and the ability to control for potential confounding factors. This session provides information about defining and interpreting the meanings of charges, expenditures, direct and indirect costs. Using two different data sources, the session provides some methods of estimating medical costs associated with CVD. The session also gives an overview of State needs for CVD cost information and how CDC can help in estimating the costs, especially indirect costs.