Number of body systems affected by chronic conditions | n | Total§ | Inpatient | Outpatient | Pharmacy | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Predicted costs | Predicted costs | Predicted share of total | Predicted costs | Predicted share of total | Predicted costs | Predicted share of total | ||
1 | 30 772 | 70 671 | 41 531 | 50.7 | 16 196 | 28.0 | 4468 | 7.5 |
2 | 54 837 | 69 342 | 40 183 | 51.3 | 17 883 | 30.3 | 4280 | 7.2 |
3 | 66 610 | 71 010 | 40 403 | 50.5 | 19 395 | 32.0 | 4392 | 7.4 |
4 | 53 937 | 73 455 | 41 481 | 49.7 | 20 879 | 33.6 | 4613 | 7.6 |
5 | 30 509 | 75 455 | 42 466 | 49.1 | 22 034 | 34.8 | 5001 | 7.9 |
6 | 12 566 | 78 807 | 44 089 | 48.3 | 23 448 | 35.8 | 5340 | 8.3 |
7+ | 4419 | 81 544 | 44 994 | 47.4 | 24 938 | 36.9 | 5952 | 8.7 |
Average difference¶ | 1774* | 577* | −0.6* | 1444* | 1.6* | 199* | 0.2* |
*p<0.01.
†Predicted absolute costs are generated via multivariate linear regression examining associations between number of body systems affected by chronic conditions and costs, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, homelessness and insurance status.
‡Predicted shares of total cost are generated via fractional logit regression examining associations between the number of body systems affected by chronic conditions and shares of total cost within each domain of care, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, homelessness and insurance status.
§Component costs and cost shares sum approximately to total when VA-sponsored contract care (omitted for clarity) is included. Note that dividing predicted component costs by predicted total costs does not equal the predicted share of total. The former is a ratio of means and the latter is a mean of ratios, and although both procedures estimate the same quantity, they are not guaranteed to produce the same result. The two procedures do, however, produce comparable results.
¶Average differences represent change in costs (for absolute costs) or percentage point change in share of cost (for share of total cost generated within each domain of cost) for each additional body system affected by chronic conditions.