Hospital utilization patterns and costs for adult sickle cell patients in Illinois

To determine population size, demographic characteristics, hospital utilization patterns, the specialties of physicians providing care, and costs for hospitalized adult sickle cell patients in Illinois.

A statewide, administrative dataset for the two-year period from january 1992 through December 1993 was analyzed retrospectively.

There were 8403 admissions among 1189 individual sickle cell patients for the two-year period. Eighty-five percent of patients resided in the Chicago metropolitan area. The median age of the 1189 patients was 29; two-thirds had Medicaid or Medicare coverage. Emergency departments were the primary source of admissions (85.7%). The most common admitting diagnosis was painful crisis (97.4%), and average length of stay was four days. The median number of admissions per patient was three; most patients (85%) used only one or two hospitals. A small group used more than four hospitals and accounted for 23% of statewide admissions. Primary care physicians cared for most patients, and total hospitalization charges were more than $59 million.

In Illinois the adult sickle cell population is concentrated in major urban centers, primarily the Chicago metropolitan area. These patients accounted for approximately 8400 admissions and more than $59 million in hospital charges during the two-year study period. A small group of patients used multiple hospitals and accounted for more than 23% of total hospitalization charges. This study shows the necessity of and provides a useful framework for developing targeted programs for adult sickle cell patients as well as for training physicians to efficiently provide comprehensive health care services for this population.