Healthcare utilization 9 months pre- and post- COVID-19 hospitalization among patients discharged alive.

Abstract

BackgroundEmerging evidence suggests that there is an increase in healthcare utilization (HCU) in patients due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). We investigated the change in HCU pre and post hospitalization among patients discharged home from COVID-19 hospitalization for up to 9 months of follow up.Study design and methodsThis retrospective study from a United States cohort used Optum® de-identified Clinformatics Data Mart; it included adults discharged home post hospitalization with primary diagnosis of COVID-19 between April 2020 and March 2021. We evaluated HCU of patients 9 months pre and post -discharge from index hospitalization. We defined HCU as emergency department (ED), inpatient, outpatient (office), rehabilitation/skilled nursing facility (SNF), telemedicine visits, and length of stay, expressed as number of visits per 10,000 person-days.ResultsWe identified 63,161 patients discharged home after COVID-19 hospitalization. The cohort of patients was mostly white (58.8%) and women (53.7%), with mean age 72.4 (SD± 12) years. These patients were significantly more likely to have increased HCU in the 9 months post hospitalization compared to the 9 months prior. Patients had a 47%, 67%, 65%, and 51% increased risk of ED (rate ratio 1.47; 95% CI 1.45-1.49; p ConclusionHCU was higher after index hospitalization compared to 9 months prior among patients discharged home post-COVID-19 hospitalization. The increases in HCU may be driven by those patients who received care in the ICU.