Insurance Disparities in Patient Outcomes and Healthcare Resource Utilization Following Neonatal Intraventricular Hemorrhage

World Neurosurg. 2024 Sep:189:e46-e54. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2024.05.136. Epub 2024 May 28.

Abstract

Background: Within the field of pediatric neurosurgery, insurance status has been shown to be associated with surgical delay, longer time to referral, and longer hospitalization in epilepsy treatment, myelomeningocele repair, and spasticity surgery.1,2 The aim of this study was to investigate the association of insurance status with inpatient adverse events (AEs), length of stay (LOS), and costs for newborns diagnosed with intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH).

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed using the 2016-2019 National Inpatient Sample database. Patients with a primary diagnosis of intraventricular hemorrhage were identified using ICD-10-CM diagnostic and procedural codes. Patients were categorized based on insurance status: Medicaid or Private Insurance (PI). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify the impact of insurance status on extended LOS (defined as >75th percentile of LOS) and exorbitant cost (defined as >75th percentile of cost).

Results: Demographics differed significantly between groups, with the majority of newborns in the PI cohort being White (Medicaid: 35.8% vs. PI: 60.3%, P < 0.001) and the majority of Medicaid patients being in the 0-25th quartile of household income (Medicaid: 40.9% vs. PI: 12.9%, P < 0.001). While insurance status was not independently associated with increased odds of extended LOS or exorbitant cost, Medicaid patients had a greater mean LOS and total cost of admission than PI patients.

Conclusions: Demographic characteristics, mean LOS, and mean total cost differed significantly between Medicaid and PI patients, indicating potential disparities based on insurance status. However, insurance status was not independently associated with increased healthcare utilization, necessitating further research in this area of study.

Keywords: Intraventricular hemorrhage; Length of Stay; Medicaid; Neonate; Private insurance.

MeSH terms

  • Cerebral Intraventricular Hemorrhage / economics
  • Cerebral Intraventricular Hemorrhage / surgery
  • Cohort Studies
  • Female
  • Healthcare Disparities* / economics
  • Healthcare Disparities* / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Insurance Coverage* / statistics & numerical data
  • Insurance, Health / statistics & numerical data
  • Length of Stay* / economics
  • Length of Stay* / statistics & numerical data
  • Male
  • Medicaid* / economics
  • Patient Acceptance of Health Care / statistics & numerical data
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Treatment Outcome
  • United States