Cost Burden of Potentially Preventable Hospitalizations for Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes for Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Whites in Hawai'i

We compared the cost burdens of potentially preventable hospitalizations for cardiovascular disease and diabetes for Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Whites using Hawai'i statewide 2007-2012 inpatient data. The cost burden of the 27,894 preventable hospitalizations over six years (total cost: over $353 million) fell heavily on Native Hawaiians who had the largest proportion (23%) of all preventable hospitalizations and the highest unadjusted average costs (median: $9,117) for these hospitalizations. Diabetes-related amputations (median cost: $20,167) were the most expensive of the seven preventable hospitalization types. After adjusting for other factors (including age, insurance, and hospital), costs for preventable diabetes-related amputations were significantly higher for Native Hawaiians (ratio estimate: 1.23; 95%CI: 1.05-1.44), Japanese (ratio estimate: 1.44; 95%CI:1.20-1.72), and other Pacific Islanders (ratio estimate: 1.26; 95%CI:1.04-1.52) compared with Whites. Reducing potentially preventable hospitalizations would not only improve health equity, but could also relieve a large and disproportionate cost burden on some Pacific Islander and Asian American communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]Copyright of Journal of Health Care for the Poor & Underserved is the property of Johns Hopkins University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)