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1558. Injection Drug Use-Related Skin and Soft Tissue Infections Serve as Sentinel Events for Healthcare Utilization in a Vulnerable Population


 
 
 Persons with injection drug use (IDU) can have frequent skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) and high healthcare utilization. We sought to examine whether IDU-related SSTIs are associated with an acceleration in disease course and increased healthcare utilization (a ‘sentinel event’) and may present an important opportunity for intervention.
 
 
 
 We performed a retrospective chart review of patients with an emergency department (ED) visit or hospital admission due to an IDU-related SSTI between 10/1/2015 and 6/1/2019 to obtain information on demographics, microbiologic data, addiction service consultation, and treatment with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). We compared the number of healthcare encounters in the 12 months before and after the SSTI using the Wilcoxon signed rank test for data with non-normal distribution. We examined differences in the distribution of variables between patients who were admitted and those discharged from the ED using Chi Square and Fisher exact tests for categorical variables and t-tests and Wilcoxon tests for continuous variables.
 
 
 
 In all, 305 patients met inclusion criteria for an IDU-related SSTI. The patients were 66.5% male, had a median age of 41 years (range 23-70), 84% were experiencing homelessness and 87% had Medicaid. Most patients (55.7%) were admitted to the hospital and the remainder were discharged from the ED. There was a statistically significant change in healthcare utilization in the year prior to the SSTI compared to the year after (median change +16.7%, p < 0.0001). Compared to those who were admitted, it was rare for patients discharged from the ED to have microbiologic data sent (13% vs 87%, p < 0.0001), an addiction consult completed (4% vs 96%, p < 0.0001), or to be discharged on MOUD (8.0% vs 92%, p < 0.0001). Despite these differences, there were no significant predictors of high vs low utilization among all-comers based on demographic and clinical data.
 
 
 
 IDU-related SSTIs serve as sentinel events with increased healthcare utilization after the episode. Addiction consultation and initiation of MOUD had no impact on the trajectory of healthcare utilization. Further work must be done to identify how best to improve outcomes for this vulnerable population.
 
 
 
 All Authors: No reported disclosures
