The burden of emergency department use for sickle-cell disease: an analysis of the national emergency department sample database.

Publication/Presentation Date

10-1-2010

Abstract

It is estimated that there are 100,000 people living with sickle-cell disease (SCD) in the United States [1]. The most common manifestation of SCD is vaso-occlusive crisis, which is characterized by intermittent, unexpected episodes of excruciating pain. As these episodes often come on suddenly, much of the care for these crises occurs within emergency departments (EDs). Several studies have examined ED use and costs for certain groups of patients with SCD [2-4]. For example, in 1997, Woods et al. [2] found that 85.7% of 7,202 hospital admissions for SCD in Illinois were for patients that came through the ED, and the total charges for sickle-cell admissions in Illinois were found to be $30 million a year. A recent study of healthcare use by children with SCD demonstrated that children insured by Medicaid had higher ED utilization than those with private insurance (57% vs.45%) [5]. The purpose of our study was to provide national level estimates of ED utilization by SCD patients, which have not previously been available.

Volume

85

Issue

10

First Page

797

Last Page

799

ISSN

1096-8652

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

PubMedID

20730795

Department(s)

Administration and Leadership

Document Type

Article

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