Potentially preventable hospitalizations and super-utilization of inpatient services among patients with chronic kidney disease in Hawaiʻi

BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is linked to high morbidity and mortality and increased hospitalization burden. If appropriately managed in the outpatient setting, ambulatory care-sensitive conditions (ACSCs) do not lead to hospitalization. Hospitalizations due to ACSCs are considered as potentially preventable hospitalizations. Patients with recurrent hospitalizations are considered as super-utilizers of inpatient services. The aim of this study is to determine prevalence of potentially preventable hospitalizations and super-utilization of inpatient services among patients with CKD in Hawaiʻi. METHODS: Hawaiʻi statewide inpatient data (2015–2017) were used to identify adult CKD patients with hospitalizations during a 12-month period from the first recorded date of CKD. The associations between the potentially preventable hospitalizations and super-utilization and other key patient demographic and clinical variables (sex, age, ethnicity, insurance type, Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), county of residence, and homelessness indicator) were analyzed using bivariate analysis. Multivariable logistic regression was utilized to assess the associations between the potentially preventable hospitalizations and patient variables. RESULTS: Approximately 2% of patients reported potentially preventable hospitalizations, and a total of 12.3% patients reported super-utilization. Out of all CKD-specific ACSC hospitalizations, 74.2% were due to heart failure and 25.8% were due to hyperkalemia. Patients who reported super-utilization were more likely to report potentially preventable hospitalization (OR: 5.98, 95%CI: 4.50–7.93) than patients who did not report super-utilization. CONCLUSION: This study showed prevalence of potentially preventable hospitalizations and high inpatient utilization among CKD patients in Hawaiʻi. Heart failure and hyperkalemia were the two major causes of CKD-specific ACSC hospitalizations in this cohort. Effective strategies should be employed to improve the outpatient CKD management to reduce hospitalizations and in turn reduce cost.