{"id":23346,"date":"2026-02-25T10:03:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T15:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ices.on.ca\/?post_type=journal_article&#038;p=23346"},"modified":"2026-03-02T10:15:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T15:15:21","slug":"impact-of-wait-times-for-atrial-fibrillation-ablation-on-cumulative-healthcare-costs","status":"publish","type":"journal_article","link":"https:\/\/www.ices.on.ca\/fr\/publications\/journal-articles\/impact-of-wait-times-for-atrial-fibrillation-ablation-on-cumulative-healthcare-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"Impact of wait-times for atrial fibrillation ablation on cumulative healthcare costs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Background<\/strong> \u2014 Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia. Substantial wait-times exist for catheter ablation treatment in some jurisdictions. The economic consequences of wait-times have not been characterized.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Objective<\/strong> \u2014 To determine drivers of healthcare expenses by phase of cost and assess contribution of wait-times among patients receiving AF ablation.<br \/>\nMethods \u2014 This observational cohort study included patients who received AF ablation in Ontario, Canada between April 2016 and March 2023. Per-patient cumulative healthcare costs were the primary outcome, presented by phase of cost from AF diagnosis to 1 year following ablation. Hierarchical generalized linear models with a logarithmic link and gamma distribution assessed drivers of cost by phase. The primary exposure was wait-times defined as diagnosis-to-ablation, diagnosis-to-referral, and referral-to-ablation times.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Results <\/strong>\u2014 Our cohort included 8,403 recipients of de novo AF ablation with a median diagnosis-to-ablation time of 29 (IQR: 16-50) months. The median (IQR) pre-ablation cost was $15,353 ($8,424-$27,776) while the median 1-year cost post-ablation was $19,929 ($16,595-$25,702). Diagnosis-to-ablation time was significantly associated with increased pre-ablation costs (Rate ratio [RR] 1.02 per month, 95% CI 1.02-1.02). Wait-times were positively associated with post-ablation costs (RR 1.001 per month increase of diagnosis-to-ablation time, 95% CI 1.000-1.001), albeit with a smaller magnitude. Medical comorbidity, including heart failure was significantly associated with increased pre-ablation (RR 1.28, 95% CI 1.24-1.33) and post-ablation costs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong> \u2014 Patients receiving AF ablation experience distinct phases of cost accumulation and wait-times for ablation have a limited contribution to cumulative costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Background \u2014 Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia. Substantial wait-times exist for catheter ablation treatment in some jurisdictions. The economic consequences of wait-times have not been characterized. Objective \u2014 To determine drivers of healthcare expenses by phase of cost and assess contribution of wait-times among patients receiving AF ablation. Methods \u2014 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","migration-helper-automated":[],"migration-manual":[],"topic":[40,61],"migration-helper-qa-sample-set":[],"class_list":["post-23346","journal_article","type-journal_article","status-publish","hentry","topic-cardiovascular-disease","topic-health-economics"],"acf":{"citation":"Qeska D, Qiu F, Manoragavan Mma R, Abdel-Qadir H, Cheung CC, Ko DT, Singh SM, Sud MK, Wijeysundera HC. <em>Heart Rhythm<\/em>. 2026; S1547-5271(26)00154-2. Epub 2026 Feb 25.","source_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.hrthm.2026.02.031","ices_scientist":[1379,1146,1133],"site":[6733],"research_program":[6742],"news_release":"","journal_article":"","atlas":"","research_report":"","infographic":"","video":"","downloads":null,"links":null,"sitecore_item_id":"","sitecore_item_name":"","sitecore_field_values":"","previous_url":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>ICES | Impact of wait-times for atrial fibrillation ablation on cumulative healthcare costs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Background \u2014 Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia. 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