Acute cardiac care & resuscitationCohort study
Healthcare costs of expedited transport compared with standard care following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: results from the EVIDENCE randomised controlled trial
- prospective costing analysis
- health system perspective
- alongside the EVIDENCE trial
- Greater Sydney, Australia
Authors' conclusion
Health system costs of expedited transport and standard care for patients with OHCA were comparable. Patients transported within, rather than outside, hospital business hours incurred greater healthcare costs.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest randomised in the EVIDENCE trialall randomised participants in EVIDENCE · expedited arm 102 · standard care arm 95
- Participants
- 197 patients
- Exposure
- expedited transport compared with standard care
- expeditedn = 102
- standard caren = 95
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Mean hospital length of stay from admission to discharge
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | expedited | standard care | difference in mean costs (95% CI) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean costs per patient · not significant | mean AUD$60,780 (SD $122,520) | mean $67,579 (SD $135,326) | -$6799 (-$44,014 to $30,416) |
| Mean costs per participant by ECPR hours · higher within ECPR hours | $36,182 ($1554-72,918) |
Original publication
Healthcare costs of expedited transport compared with standard care following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: results from the EVIDENCE randomised controlled trial. Resuscitation. Published 10 April 2026. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2026.111083
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it