A Study to Compare Liver Transplantation Costs

Liver transplantation has become a therapeutic modality for treatment of end-stage liver disease. The number of liver transplants performed in America has seen a steady increase over the past 10 years as has the patient survival rates. The cost associated with liver transplantation is expensive by any standard. The U.S. Government is currently paying a large portion of the costs associated with liver transplants being performed on eligible Department of Defense DOD beneficiaries in civilian hospitals under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services CHAMPUS. What costs are included in the liver transplant cost equation depend largely on who or what organization is doing the analysis. The exact costs associated with the CHAMPUS funded liver transplants are very difficult to determine as only part of the total liver transplantations costs are identified under the liver transplantation code. The WHMC Commander believes WHMC can perform liver transplant operations at a lower cost to the government than what CHAMPUS pays. This cost comparison determined what medical care was included in the CHAMPUS cost figure for 34 liver transplant patients and determined the costs of identical services performed on 4 WHMC liver transplant patients. This retrospective study concluded that WHMC can perform liver procedures at a lower cost to the government than what the government pays for under CHAMPUS.