An Estimation of Uncompensated Care Cost for Preventable Hospitalizations

Uncompensated care and preventable hospitalizations (PH) are measures of access to primary care. To quantify the impact of PH in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Metroplex, cost of PH were estimated from Prevention Quality Indicator (PQI) admissions as defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Through the generation and application of cost-to-charge ratios for area hospitals from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services cost reports, the PQI admissions equated $1.9 billion of hospital charges to $527 million in healthcare cost. With DFW Metroplex uncompensated care cost attributable to PQI admissions estimated from $33.5 million to $59.2 million, the costs associated with PH and its portion of uncompensated care in the DFW Metroplex support the need for policy intervention.