Mean health care costs in 2010 for patients with mental illness and high-cost status in Ontario, by high-cost patient group and health service use*
| Health service | All patients (95% CI) n = 52 638 | No. of patients (95% CI) with persistent high-cost status n = 18 149 | No. of patients (95% CI) with sporadic high-cost status n = 17 746 | No. of patients (95% CI) with moderate high-cost status n = 16 743 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychiatric hospital admissions | 21 839 (21 407–22 270) | 30 944 (29 956–31 932) | 14 417 (13 983–14 852) | 19 834 (19 166–20 503) |
| Acute-care hospital admissions | 535 (512–559) | 612 (568–657) | 408 (377–439) | 587 (542–632) |
| Other hospital or institution-based care† | 283 (259–306) | 372 (324–419) | 167 (135–199) | 308 (266–351) |
| Hospital outpatient clinic visits | 2448 (2418–2479) | 2666 (2608–2724) | 2190 (2145–2235) | 2487 (2434–2540) |
| Emergency department visits | 766 (754–777) | 844 (819–870) | 674 (659–690) | 777 (757–796) |
| Other ambulatory care‡ | 154 (145–163) | 172 (158–185) | 123 (115–131) | 169 (147–191) |
| Physician services | 5146 (5101–5190) | 5818 (5734–5902) | 4380 (4318–4442) | 5229 (5148–5311) |
| Outpatient prescription drugs§ | 1695 (1671–1720) | 2947 (2893–3000) | 702 (679–725) | 1392 (1357–1427) |
| Home care | 252 (242–262) | 339 (318–360) | 144 (133–155) | 272 (254–290) |
| Total costs | 33 118 (32 676–33 560) | 44 714 (43 724–45 703) | 23 205 (22 741–23 668) | 31 055 (30 359–31 751) |
| Potentially preventable acute-care hospital admissions | 62 (54–70) | 78 (62–94) | 36 (26–46) | 71 (57–85) |
| Potentially preventable emergency department visits | 117 (114–120) | 139 (134–145) | 93 (89–97) | 118 (114–123) |
| Total potentially preventable costs¶ | 179 (170–187) | 217 (200–235) | 129 (118–140) | 189 (173–205) |
↵* Costs are in 2018 Canadian dollars.
↵† Includes inpatient rehabilitation, complex continuing care and long-term care.
↵‡ Includes same-day surgery, dialysis clinic visits and cancer clinic visits.
↵§ Includes outpatient prescription drugs for individuals covered under the public provincial drug plan (i.e., individuals aged 65 yr and older and those on social assistance).
↵¶ Total potentially preventable costs are made up of costs of potentially preventable acute-care hospital admissions (determined through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Prevention Quality Indicators) and potentially preventable emergency department visits (determined through the use of the Billings et al. algorithm, (28) updated by Johnston et al. (29)).
Source: Administrative health care data housed at ICES, Toronto.