High-Cost Users of Medical Care

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Abstract
Cost characteristics of hospital patients were analyzed in 2238 medical records randomly selected from 42,880 discharges in six contrasting hospital populations in the year 1976. Total hospital billings were concentrated on a few patients. On average, the high-cost 13 per cent of patients consumed as many resources as the low-cost 87 per cent. Repeated hospitalizations for the same disease were more characteristic of the expensive patients than were single cost-intensive stays, "intensive care," or prolonged single hospitalizations.

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