Comparing Traumatic Brain Injury Diagnoses, Intensive Care Utilization, Length of Stay, and Costs Between Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs Hospitals: A Long-term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium Study

This study found that DoD facilities treat SMVs with TBI more intensively and rapidly than the VA. SMVs hospitalized in DoD facilities were younger, more likely to be female, and had diagnoses associated with LOC. In contrast, SMVs hospitalized in VA facilities had much higher rates of MS-DRGs with complications and comorbidities. Female SMVs were found to have lower LOS, consistent with civilian hospitalizations. These findings are limited in that Service Members and Veterans are distinct groups in terms of the mechanism of injury and non-hospitalization comorbidities, which are not accounted for in hospitalization data. Despite limitations, the findings suggest that the DoD and VA, as two government systems, have similar marginal costs for treating TBI. Future studies should include SMV cohorts with data on the mechanism of injury, military characteristics, and non-hospitalization comorbidities.