A new AHRQ analysis estimates that one-third of 95,600 hospital stays specifically for sickle cell disease had a readmission within 30 days and cost a total of over $811.4 million in 2016. Hospital stays for sickle cell are 2.5 times as likely to result in a readmission as hospitalizations unrelated to the disease, according to the statistical brief from AHRQ’s Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. Hospital stays related to sickle cell disease were 1.5 times as likely to be admitted from an emergency department and nearly four times more likely to be discharged against medical advice as unrelated stays. Half were for patients 18–34 years old, and nearly 90 percent were black patients.
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