Costs and Outcomes with Once-Daily versus Every-6-Hour Intravenous Busulfan in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Abstract

The high cost of healthcare in the United States has not been consistently associated with improved health outcomes or quality of care, necessitating a focus on value-based care. We identified busulfan dosing frequency during allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) conditioning as a potential target for optimization. To improve patient convenience and to decrease the cost of busulfan-based conditioning regimens, our institution changed busulfan dose frequency from every 6 hours (q6h) to once-daily (q24h). We compared costs and patient outcomes between these 2 dosing schedules. In June 2017, our institution transitioned from q6h to q24h busulfan dosing. We compared patients who received busulfan/cyclophosphamide conditioning regimens (BU/CY) for allogeneic HCT in the year before the dosing change (q6h cohort) and those who did so in the year after the dosing change (q24h cohort). The primary outcomes were differences in cost, day +90 mortality, and day +90 relapse. Between June 1, 2016, and June 1, 2018, 104 patients (median age 49 years; range, 20 to 63 years) received BU/CY before allogeneic HCT. Fifty-nine patients (57%) received q6h busulfan and 45 (43%) received q24h busulfan. There were fewer men in the q24h busulfan cohort compared with the q6h busulfan cohort (42% versus 64%; P = .024), but there were no other significant differences between the groups. There was an average annual cost savings of $19,990 per patient with q24h busulfan compared with q6h busulfan, and an annual busulfan cost savings of $899,550. There was a significantly lower day +90 mortality in the q24h busulfan cohort compared to the q6h busulfan cohort (0% versus 10%; P = .028). There were no significant differences in relapse at day +90 or in hospital length of stay. Our data indicate that i.v. busulfan dosing for allogeneic HCT conditioning is a target for improved value-based care. At our institution, patients who received q24h busulfan dosing had similar or superior outcomes compared with those receiving q6h dosing, with an average annual cost reduction of $19,990 per patient and an overall annual reduction in busulfan cost of approximately $900,000. These data support the adoption of q24h i.v. busulfan dosing as a standard of care to improve value-based care in allogeneic HCT.

Keywords: Busulfan; Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; Value-based care.