Demographic and Clinical Correlates of the Cost of Potentially Preventable Hospital Encounters in a Community Health Center Cohort

Abstract

This study sought to describe the cost of hospital care for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions (ACSCs) and to identify independent predictors of high-cost hospital encounters related to an ACSC among an urban community health center cohort. The authors conducted a retrospective cohort study of individuals engaged in care in a large, multisite community health center in New Haven, Connecticut, with any Medicaid claims between June 1, 2018 and March 31, 2020. Prevention Quality Indicators of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality were used to identify ACSCs. The primary outcome was a high-cost episode of care for an ACSC (in the top quartile within a 7-day period). Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors of high-cost episodes by ACSCs among sociodemographic and clinical variables as covariates. Among 8019 included individuals, a total of 751 episodes of hospital care involving ACSCs were identified. The median episode cost was $793, with the highest median cost of care related to heart failure ($4992), followed by diabetes ($1162), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ($1141). In adjusted analyses, male gender (P < 0.01), increasing age (P = 0.02), and ACSC type (P < 0.01) were associated with higher costs of care; race/ethnicity was not. Community health centers in urban settings seeking to reduce the cost of care of potentially preventable hospitalizations may target disease-/condition-specific groups, particularly individuals of increasing age with congestive heart failure and diabetes mellitus. These findings may inform return-on-investment calculations for care coordination and other enabling services programming.