Table 2.

Hospital encounter characteristics and outcomes by high-use status (n=57,007)

Variable	All, n=57,007	Persistent High Use, n=947	Episodic High Use, n=7010	Nonhigh Use, n=49,050	P Value
Total no. of hospital encounters (%)	118,671	8913 (7.5)	31,796 (26.8)	77,962 (65.7)
No. of hospital admissions per patient, median (IQR) [range]	1 (1–3) [1–29]	9 (7–11) [6–29]	4 (3–5) [3–23]	1 (1–2) [1–6]	<0.001
Average length of stay, median (IQR)	11.1 (6–23)	11.0 (7.7–16.7)	12.4 (8–20)	10.75 (5.5–24.8)	<0.001
Cumulative length of stay, median (IQR) [range]	17 (6–53) [1–7050]	118 (71–197) [15–2903]	60 (32–116) [3–3102]	13 (5–39) [1–7050]	<0.001
Total no. of hospital days (%)	2,074,316	120,427 (5.8)	506,724 (24.4)	1,447,165 (69.8)	<0.001
Discharge disposition (last admission)
Transfer to acute care	0.8	2.2	1.2	0.8	<0.001
Transfer to long-term care	11.6	13.2	13.9	11.2	<0.001
Transfer to other facility	1.0	1.0	1.4	1.0	<0.001
Home with support services	16.6	18.0	16.9	16.6	<0.001
Home	49.9	35.5	35.4	52.2	<0.001
Signed out against medical advice	0.4	0.8	0.5	0.4	<0.001
In-hospital mortality	19.6	29.4	30.8	17.9	<0.001
Overall mortality within study follow-up period (%)	35.7	51.9	52.4	33	<0.001
Mortality rate, deaths per 1000 patient-yr (95% CI)	139.6 (137.7 to 141.5)	190.7 (174.5 to 208.3)	217.0 (210.1 to 224.1)	128.1 (126.2 to 130.1)	<0.001
Proportion of patients with one or more all–cause 30-day readmissionsa	12,128 (21.3)	895 (94.5)	5654 (80.7)	5579 (11.4)	<0.001
No. of all–cause 30-day readmissionsa
0	44,879 (78.7)	52 (5.5)	1356 (19.3)	43,471 (88.6)	<0.001
1	8253 (14.5)	121 (12.8)	2788 (39.8)	5344 (10.9)	<0.001
≥2	3875 (6.8)	774 (81.8)	2866 (40.9)	235 (0.5)	<0.001

IQR, interquartile range; 95% CI, 95% confidence interval.

^aAmong patients eligible for hospital readmission (excludes patients who died in hospital before discharge).