1. The top five percent had a mean charge of $191,984, a mean charge per day of $18,065 and an average of 19.0 days per stay. This was significantly higher than the bottom 95 percent, which had a mean charge of $20,804, a mean charge per day of $6,979 and an average of 3.9 days per stay.
2. The top five percent were older, with a mean age of 58.6 versus 48.0 years for the bottom 95 percent.
3. The top five percent had more comorbid conditions, at 2.5 versus 1.7 for the bottom 95 percent of discharges.
4. The top five percent had a greater risk of mortality, with 28.1 percent at extreme likelihood of dying compared to 3.1 percent for the bottom 95 percent of discharges.
5. The top five principal diagnoses for the top five percent were septicemia, coronary atherosclerosis, acute myocardial infarction, complication of device, implant or graft and respiratory failure. The top five principal diagnoses for the bottom 95 percent were liveborn infant, pneumonia, congestive heart failure, osteoarthritis and trauma to perineum and vulva due to childbirth.
Read the brief on HCUP’s Most Expensive Hospitalizations, 2008.
