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Length of Stay and Costs with Autologous Skin Cell Suspension Versus Split-Thickness Skin Grafts: Burn Care Data from US Centers
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Length of Stay and Costs with Autologous Skin Cell Suspension Versus Split-Thickness Skin Grafts: Burn Care Data from US Centers

Jeffrey E. Carter, Joshua S. Carson, William L. Hickerson, Lisa Rae, Syed F. Saquib, Lucy A. Wibbenmeyer, Russell V. Becker, Thomas P. Walsh and Jeremiah A. Sparks
Advances in therapy, Vol.39(11), pp.5191-5202
01/01/2022
DOI: 10.1007/s12325-022-02306-y
PMCID: PMC9472178
PMID: 36103088
url
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12325-022-02306-yView
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Autologous skin cell suspension (ASCS) is a treatment for thermal skin burn injuries that can be used alone or in combination with split-thickness skin grafts (STSG), the conventional standard of care. Projections using the Burn-medical counter measure Effectiveness Assessment Cost Outcomes Nexus (BEACON) model indicate that ASCS leads to shorter hospital length of stay (LOS) and overall cost savings compared with STSG alone. These model findings are supported by benchmarking study data from a limited sample of US burn centers. The current study aimed to understand whether the BEACON projections are supported by daily clinical practice data from US healthcare facilities. Using electronic medical record data, we matched patients who received ASCS ± STSG from January 2019 to August 2020 to those receiving STSG alone on the basis of demographic and clinical factors. Data analysis showed that hospital LOS was shorter (3.3 days) with ASCS ± STSG than STSG alone, a difference associated with a hospital bed cost savings of $25,864 per ASCS patient. Overall cost savings, which included nursing time and other costs, were $36,949 per patient. Analysis of patients with burns comprising total body surface areas less than 20% or at least 20% showed cost savings in both groups. The reduced LOS with ASCS also translated into the ability to treat 2.2 more patients per hospital bed per year, which was projected to increase hospital earnings. These real-world findings support those of modeling analyses, indicating that use of ASCS ± STSG is associated with meaningful clinical and economic benefits compared with use of STSG alone.
Autologous skin cell suspension Burn injury Cost savings Length of stay Original Research Real-world data

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