Frequency of hospitalization among hospital employees and their families

Using claims data from 443 employee groups in North Carolina, this study examines the acute care hospital utilization rates of hospital employees and their dependents and compares them to employee groups in non-hospital settings. Results show that hospital employee groups account for 28 per cent more hospital days than non-hospital employee groups. The significantly higher rates are due primarily to employee utilization, although hospital employee dependents also showed higher rates of use than would be expected. We hypothesize that the high utilization rates of the hospital employee groups is due to the unusual availability and accessibility of hospital services and an atypical doctor-patient relationship.