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Chavez LJ, Liu CF, Tefft N, Hebert PL, Devine B, Bradley KA. The Association Between Unhealthy Alcohol Use and Acute Care Expenditures in the 30 Days Following Hospital Discharge Among Older Veterans Affairs Patients with a Medical Condition. The journal of behavioral health services & research. 2017 Oct 1; 44(4):602-624.
Hospital readmissions and emergency department (ED) visits within 30 days of discharge are costly. Heavy alcohol use could predict increased risk for post-discharge acute care. This study assessed 30-day acute care utilization and expenditures for different categories of alcohol use. Veterans Affairs (VA) patients age = 65 years with past-year alcohol screening, hospitalized for a medical condition, were included. VA and Medicare health care utilization data were used. Two-part models adjusted for patient demographics. Among 416,050 hospitalized patients, 25% had 30-day acute care use. Nondrinking patients (n? = 267,746) had increased probability of acute care use, mean utilization days, and expenditures (difference of $345; 95% CI $268-$423), relative to low-risk drinkers (n? = 105,023). High-risk drinking patients (n? = 5,300) had increased probability of acute care use and mean utilization days, but not expenditures. Although these patients did not have greater acute care expenditures than low-risk drinking patients, they may nevertheless be vulnerable to poor post-discharge outcomes.