Mental illness was 2011’s top preventable hospitalization cause

Hawaii hospitals have pledged to band together to reduce the top medical causes driving up admission rates.

A statewide study released Wednesday by the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, representing hospitals and long-term care facilities statewide, and Department of Health cited mental illness as the top preventable cause of admissions in 2011.

There were more than 5,000 patients admitted to hospitals for mental illness, substantially higher than the nearly 3,000 visits due to heart failure, the second leading cause of hospitalization. Bacterial pneumonia came in third with more than 2,200 admissions.

The Star-Advertiser reported last week that emergency room charges and inpatient admissions related to mental illness totaled $98.3 million in 2012 — 30 percent more than the $76.1 million spent in 2009, according to statistics from the Hawaii Health Information Corp. The surge came after the state cut its mental health services budget by $25 million in fiscal 2009.

Hospitals said they will be using the data in the Wednesday study to build new programs within their communities that address issues such as access to care, behavioral health and chronic illnesses such as heart and respiratory disease.

"It’s up to individual hospitals to prioritize what they’re going to focus their resources on," said George Greene, HAH president and chief executive officer. "Over time, we will be focusing not just on communities, but statewide issues."

Under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known as Obama­care, nonprofit hospitals are required to do a community health needs assessment every three years and have a plan for improvement.

Some initiatives are already underway.

Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, for instance, said it hosted farmers markets at its Moanalua Medical Center and Waipio and Honolulu clinics last year to promote healthy food choices for patients and staff.

"Now we’re talking about taking care of patients before they’re admitted, preventing them from being hospitalized in the first place," said Virgina Pressler, executive vice president of Hawaii Pacific Health, parent company of Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, Straub Clinic & Hospital and Wilcox Health on Kauai. "We’re moving away from hospitals focused on acute care to hospitals being accountable for the communities they serve."

The study included 26 facilities, all Hawaii hospitals except Tripler Army Medical Center and the Hawaii State Hospital.