Table 2.
Comparison of Emergency Department (ED) attendance and hospital admissions total costs in Australian Dollars (financial year 2015–2016 equivalent) among IMPACT and comparison clients, in the 6 months prior to, during (IMPACT group only), and in the 6 months post-IMPACT involvement. ED attendances are categorised as either preventable or non-preventable (ED attendances at the non-SESLHD hospital were unable to be reviewed and are presented as unassigned), and admissions are classified as substance use related or not.
| ED attendances total cost | IMPACT Group (n = 34) | Comparison Group (n = 12) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6-months prior | During IMPACT | 6-months post IMPACT | Comparison of prior and post* | 6-months prior | 6-months post-assessment | Comparison of prior and post* | |
| mean (SD) median (95% CI) | Z, p | mean (SD) median (95% CI) | Z, p | ||||
| Preventable | 3,598 (3,397) | 3,224 (4,174) | 1,858 (2,853) | – | 2,181 (2,430) | 2,060 (3,409) | – |
| 2,647 (1,370, 3,769) | 1,868 (1,035, 3,659) | 630 (0, 2,070) | –2.687, 0.007 | 1,035 (0, 5,068) | 459 (0, 3,105) | –0.059, 0.953 | |
| Non-preventable | 1,561 (2,346) | 1,246 (2,144) | 883 (3,552) | – | 1,968 (1,635) | 373 (493) | – |
| 1,035 (0, 1,479) | 630 (0, 1,035) | 0 (0, 0) | –2.339, 0.019 | 1,633 (918, 3,046) | 0 (0, 815) | –2.667, 0.008 | |
| Unassigned | 1,122 (2,806) | 1,888 (3,427) | 392 (966) | – | 2,592 (4,539) | 999 (1,237) | – |
| 0 (0, 0) | 0 (0, 1,443) | 0 (0, 0) | –1.070, 0.285 | 204 (0, 5,393) | 408 (0, 2,226) | –1.352, 0.176 | |
| All | 6,281 (4,577) | 6,359 (6,066) | 3,133 (4,415) | – | 6,741 (5,309) | 3,432 (4,478) | – |
| 5,220 (3,166, 8,074) | 3,746 (2,760, 8,510) | 1,035 (0, 3,808) | 2.998, 0.003 | 4,751 (3,282, 7,734) | 1,490 (630, 3,215) | –2.118; 0.034 | |
| Hospital admissions total cost | mean (SD) median (95% CI) | Z, p | mean (SD) median (95% CI) | Z, p | |||
| Substance use related | 11,720 (12,974) | 11,988 (17,111) | 8,066 (28,129) | – | 4,120 (6,809) | 1,688 (3,536) | – |
| 9,870 (4,644, 14,515) | 6,685 (0, 11,684) | 0 (0, 602) | –2.629, 0.009 | 0 (0, 7,537) | 0 (0, 2,021) | –1.041, 0.310 | |
| Unrelated to substance use | 13,631 (23,332) | 15,679 (28,452) | 6,842 (15,256) | – | 5,927 (7,466) | 884 (1,919) | – |
| 782 (0, 11,592) | 5,621 (609, 10,479) | 0 (0, 2,027) | –1.380, 0.168 | 4,971 (0, 9,622) | 0 (0, 667) | –2.111, 0.035 | |
| All | 25,351 (23,496) | 27,667 (35,717) | 14,908 (40,737) | – | 10,047 (9,443) | 2,572 (3,629) | – |
| 15,935 (12,106, 26,736) | 14,641 (7,352, 25,077) | 602 (0, 9,201) | –3.096, 0.002 | 6,273 (4,971, 13,113) | 0 (0, 4,971) | –2.189, 0.029 | |
* Wilcoxon signed-rank test.