One in five hospitals stays involve diabetes!

There was a great article in FireceHealthcare about how diabetes contributes to increaced healthcare cost and decreased quality of life. The problem seems to be growing out of control. With all the attention given on the recent flu scare we seem to be ignoring the larger problem right in fornt of us.

Here are some of the stats:

Between 2004 and 2007, the number of Americans diagnosed with diabetes rose 22 percent to 17.9 million. Here are some other findings from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project on hospital use by patients with diabetes in 2008:

• Hospital stays for patients with diabetes were longer, more expensive, and more likely to originate in the ED than stays for patients without diabetes.

• Medicare covered almost 60 percent of total hospital costs for patients with diabetes, followed by private health insurance which covered 23 percent of total diabetes-related hospital costs.

• The South had the highest rate of hospital stays for patients with diabetes (2,829 stays per 100,000 persons in the region), while the West had the lowest rate (1,866 stays per 100,000 persons in the region).

• Sixty-one percent of patients with diabetes who stayed in the hospital were admitted through the ED.

• The top three most common principal reasons for hospitalization among patients with diabetes were diabetes, congestive heart failure, and coronary atherosclerosis.

• The rate of hospitalization was highest for patients with diabetes the lower their income.

Link to report