Background Economic viability is important to any hospital striving to be a comprehensive stroke center. An inability to recover cost can strain sustained delivery of advanced stroke care.

Objective To carry out a comparative financial analysis of intravenous (IV) recombinant tissue plasminogen activator and endovascular (EV) therapy in treating large vessel strokes from a hospital's perspective.

Methodology Actual hospital's charges, costs, and payments were analyzed for 265 patients who received treatment for large vessel strokes. The patients were divided into an EV (n=141) and an IV group (n=124). The net gain/loss was calculated as the difference between payments received and the total cost.

Results The charges, costs, and payments were significantly higher for the EV than the IV group (p<0.0001 for all). Medicare A was the main payer. Length of stay was inversely related to net gain/loss (p<0.0001). Favorable outcome was associated with a net gain of $3853 (±$21 155) and poor outcome with a net deficit of $2906 (±$15 088) (p=0.003). The hospital showed a net gain for the EV group versus a net deficit for the IV group in patients who survived the admission (p=0.04), had a favorable outcome (p=0.1), or were discharged to home (p=0.03). There was no difference in the time in hospital based on in-hospital mortality for the EV group but patients who died in the IV group had a significantly shorter length of stay than those who survived (p=0.04). The favorable outcome of 42.3% in the EV group was significantly higher than the 29.4% in the IV group (p=0.03).

Conclusions Endovascular therapy was associated with better outcomes and higher cost–recovery than IV thrombolysis in patients with large vessel strokes.