U.S. hospitals spent $83 billion caring for people with diabetes in 2008, according to a statistical brief issued by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. That year, roughly one out of every five hospitalizations involved a person with the disease.

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.

To learn more:
- here’s the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s statistical brief on hospital stays for patients with diabetes

Related Articles:
Cell phones help with inner-city diabetes management, but long-term prospects uncertain
After his dog chews his toe off, man learns he has diabetes
Study: Value-based insurance design improves diabetes medicine use
CMS P4P project shows diabetes care savings