by
Libby Dismuke-Greer, PhD
Seminar date: 9/16/2020
Description: Abstract: Currently, there is one U.S. FDA approved TBI blood biomarker, and one internationally approved TBI blood biomarker in Sweden. Pricing for the FDA approved biomarker has not been established. U.S. standard of care for TBI diagnosis and management is CT and MRI. This study examined the annual utilization, per unit and per veteran Veterans Health Administration (VHA) costs of CT and MRI in U.S. veterans with TBI over a 14-year period, by TBI severity. This study also examined the comorbidity and TBI severity-adjusted marginal impact of CT and MRI use on total, inpatient, outpatient and pharmacy (VHA) cost of these veterans. The results provide benchmark information for economic evaluation of TBI blood biomarkers. It also shows that veterans with mild TBI severity have a higher use of any MRI, relative to higher TBI severity. Finally, the results show that while having a higher per unit cost than CT, MRI use is associated with a significant reduction in annual inpatient VHA costs of approximately double the MRI’s per unit cost. This finding has important implications for MRI use guidelines as well as benchmark information for TBI blood biomarkers. Target Audience: VA researchers, providers, and policy makers
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