See also: Behind Bars I and II
See also: CASA Reprort Shoveling UP I and II
See also: Cost of Drunk Driving in Iowa
See also: Cost of Impaired Driving in Iowa
See also: Economics of Alcohol

Lee, Michael H.; Mello, Michael J.; Reinert, Steven; "Emergency department charges for evaluating minimally injured alcohol-impaired drivers", ANNALS OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE (2009), 54 (4): 600-602. "This was a retrospective study of charts and billing data for all drivers in motor vehicle crashes aged 21 to 65 years, treated at an urban Level I trauma center in 2005 and discharged home from the ED. Patients were divided into alcohol-positive and alcohol-negative groups according to alcohol level, documentation of recent alcohol use or clinical intoxication, itemized charges were tabulated and compared across groups.

Results: Of 1,618 eligible patients, median charges were higher for alcohol-positive patients by $4,538 (95% confidence interval [CI] $2,755 to $5,665). Imaging was 69% of the charge differential because of a higher frequency of imaging (91% versus 70%) and more expensive studies (median difference $2,464, 95% CI $1,507-$3,440) for alcohol-postive patients. Median length of stay was higher for alcohol-positive patients by 3.3 hours (95% CI 2.7 to 4.1 hours). When stratified by trauma-protocoled triage destination, median charges were higher for alcohol-positive versus -negative patients in non-critical care beds by $2,229 (95% CI $1,039 to $$2,693). For patients triaged to critical care beds, the difference in charges was only $132 (95% CI - $1,677 to 1,233).

Conclusions: The presence of alcohol substantially increased charges and length of stay for ED evaluations of injured drivers discarded home, especially for patients who were triaged to non-critical care beds. The magnitudes are striking for the minimally injured population and represent an underreported burden of alcohol-impaired driving."

updated 08/29/10