Health care utilization and cost among adults with chronic rhinosinusitis enrolled in a health maintenance organization.

摘要

OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to measure the impact of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) on the use and cost of health care by adults in a health maintenance organization (HMO). Setting and Subjects: In the setting of the Group Health Cooperative, an HMO in Washington State, we conducted a study of all 218,587 adults (>/=18 years) who used services during 1994. Using automated data, 20,175 adults were identified with one or more CRS diagnoses during 1994. Outcome Measures: We identified nonurgent outpatient visits, pharmacy fills, urgent visits, hospital days, and their associated costs (per adult per year). RESULTS: The marginal utilization associated with a diagnosis of CRS was 2.0 nonurgent outpatient visits, 5.1 pharmacy fills, 0.01 urgent visit, and -0.07 hospital day. The marginal total cost of CRS was