Pneumonia is not just pneumonia: Differences in utilization and costs with common comorbidities

We sought to explore the heterogeneity among patients hospitalized with pneumonia, a condition targeted in payment reform. In a retrospective cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for pneumonia, we compared postacute care utilization and costs of 90-day episodes of care among patients with and without comorbidities of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and/or heart failure. Of the 1,926,674 discharges, 28.1% had COPD, 14.3% had heart failure, and 14.6% carried both diagnoses. Patients with pneumonia were more likely to be discharged to a facility than those with pneumonia and COPD with or without heart failure, though less likely than those with pneumonia and heart failure only. Compared to patients with pneumonia only, patients with COPD and/or heart failure had higher episode payments. Acute conditions such as pneumonia may hold promise for episode-based care payment reform; however, the heterogeneity within this diagnosis indicates the need to consider other patient characteristics in interventions to improve value-based care.