Characterization and Predictors of Veterans Affairs (VA) Outpatient Cost and Utilization for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Research Objectives: To determine cost and utilization of Veterans with TBI who use VA outpatient clinics.

Design: The data was descriptively analyzed for frequency and utilization while a general linear model of annualized cost was estimated.

Setting: VA outpatient clinics.

Participants: Service Members and Veterans who participated in the VA TBIMS study and were treated at a polytrauma rehabilitation center (PRC) between 2010-2020.

Interventions: N/A

Main Outcome Measures: Frequency and cost of VA outpatient clinics. Costs are reported in 2024 dollars.

Results: The analyses included a total cohort of 1030 Service Members and Veterans. The mean (median) annual cost per person was $25,095 ($15,027) for all VA outpatient encounters. Laboratory encounters were the most frequent clinic type (16.3%), though Polytrauma/TBI had the most users (905). Each additional year in the VA since TBI injury is associated with approximately $24,491 additional dollars of VA outpatient costs. Each additional year of age is associated with approximately $616 in VA outpatient costs. Each additional point on the Disability Rating Scale (DRS) is associated with $2,315 additional VA outpatient costs. White non-Hispanic individuals use approximately $16,065 more VA outpatient resources relative to non-White or Hispanic individuals.

Conclusions: This poster describes healthcare cost and utilization, which is important data for stakeholders and policymakers to appropriately plan.

Author(s) Disclosures: Financial Disclosures: None. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official policy or position of the Defense Health Agency, Department of Defense, or any other U.S. government agency. This work was prepared under Contract HT0014-22-C-0016 with DHA Contracting Office (CO-NCR) HT0014 and, therefore, is defined as U.S. Government work under Title 17 U.S.C.§101. Per Title 17 U.S.C.§105, copyright protection is not available for any work of the U.S. Government. Poster presented at ACRM, November 2024. For more information, please contact dha.TBICOEinfo@health.mil. UNCLASSIFIED. This material is the result of work supported with resources and the use of facilities at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital.