• Nicholas Moore, Ali Abid, Shiquan Ren, Kent Robinson, and Paul Middleton.
• Emergency Department, Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
• Emerg Med Australas. 2023 Feb 1; 35 (1): 126132126-132.

ObjectiveThere is growing evidence to suggest that culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) patients cost the health system more than non-CALD patients because of a higher burden of disease and increased resource consumption. The present study aimed to compare the ED resource utilisation of CALD and non-CALD patients at a tertiary hospital in Sydney, Australia.MethodsThe total ED resource utilisation was calculated by separating each visit into diagnostic test cost and time spent in ED components. The time component was calculated using the product of the total length of stay and a resource cost per unit time measure. Diagnostic tests were costed using the Australian Medicare Benefit Schedule. A generalised additive model was developed to estimate the isolated effect of CALD status on the resource utilisation during an ED visit.ResultsCALD patients had a higher median resource utilisation than non-CALD patients ($736.93 vs $701.36, P < 0.0001); however, the generalised additive model demonstrated that CALD status was not independently associated with increased resource utilisation.ConclusionCALD status is not an independent influence on ED resource utilisation but other explanatory variables such as increased age and altered case-mix appear to have a much greater influence. There may, however, be other reasons to consider CALD loading such as equity in healthcare and to address poorer overall health outcomes for CALD patients.© 2022 The Authors. Emergency Medicine Australasia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

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