Lower Hospitalization and Healthcare Costs With Sacubitril/Valsartan Versus Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor or Angiotensin-Receptor Blocker in a Retrospective Analysis of Patients With Heart Failure

Background-Outcomes data among patients with heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction treated with sacubitril/valsartan (SAC/VAL) are largely limited to clinical trial results. We compared hospitalization and healthcare costs among real-world patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction treated with SAC/VAL versus angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin-receptor blocker (ACEI/ARB). Methods and Results-Using retrospective administrative claims data, stable patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction treated with SAC/VAL or ACEI/ARB from October 2015 to June 2016 were identified. Postindex hospitalization and healthcare costs were assessed in propensity-matched cohorts using robust variance estimation. Time to first hospitalization was modeled using unadjusted Kaplan-Meier estimates and multivariable models. Postindex all-cause healthcare costs were modeled using an adjusted multivariable model. Among 279 patients per matched cohort, postindex hospitalization risk was lower for SAC/VAL compared with ACEI/ARB using Kaplan-Meier estimation and unadjusted Cox models. For HF hospitalization, the hazard ratio (95% CI) was 0.56 (0.33-0.94; P 0.030). Adjusted results were similar to unadjusted. Mean (SD) monthly healthcare costs were lower for SAC/VAL versus ACEI/ARB for all categories except pharmacy, with hospital costs being particularly disparate between cohorts: for HF hospitalization, $248 ($1588) for SAC/VAL versus $1122 ($7290) for ACEI/ARB. The adjusted risk of incurring increased all-cause postindex costs was lower for SAC/VAL versus ACEI/ARB (cost ratio [95% CI] 0.74 [0.59-0.94]; P=0.013). Conclusions-In clinical practice, patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction treated with SAC/VAL were less likely to be hospitalized than matched patients treated with ACEI/ARB. Despite higher pharmacy costs, SAC/VAL-treated patients incurred lower monthly medical and total healthcare costs.