Data Brief: Healthcare Utilization for Vaso-Occlusive Episodes by People with Sickle Cell Disease in California and Georgia, 2015

Many people with sickle cell disease (SCD) had a hospitalization or an emergency department (ED) visit with a vaso-occlusive episode (VOE), or pain crisis, diagnosis code. People with SCD: • Go to the hospital more than once a year, with an average stay of 5 days per hospitalization. • Go to the ED an average of 2–3 times a year. • Go to the ED and hospital most commonly for VOEs. More than 4 in 10 (41%) ED visits and more than 7 in 10 (73%) hospital admissions for people with SCD in California had a VOE diagnosis code. Nearly 1 in 2 (48%) ED visits and 3 in 4 (75%) hospital admissions for people with SCD in Georgia had a VOE diagnosis code.   Abstract source