We have located links that may give you full text access.
Comparative Study
Journal Article
Emergency pediatric surgery: Comparing the economic burden in specialized versus nonspecialized children's centers.
Journal of Pediatric Surgery 2018 May
BACKGROUND: The American College of Surgeons has developed a verification program for children's surgery centers. Highly specialized hospitals may be verified as Level I, while those with fewer dedicated resources as Level II or Level III, respectively. We hypothesized that more specialized children's centers would utilize more resources.
STUDY DESIGN: We performed a retrospective study of the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) database from 2009 to 2013. We assessed total charge, length of stay (LOS), and charge per day for all inpatients with an emergency pediatric surgery diagnosis, controlling for severity of illness (SOI). Using published resources, we assigned theoretical level designations to each hospital.
RESULTS: Two hospitals would qualify as Level 1 hospitals, with 4593 total emergency pediatric surgery admissions (38.5%) over the five-year study period. Charges were significantly higher for children treated at Level I hospitals (all P<0.0001). Across all SOI, children at Level I hospitals had significantly longer LOS (all P<0.0001).
CONCLUSION: Hospitals defined as Level II and Level III provided the majority of care and were able to do so with shorter hospitalizations and lower charges, regardless of SOI. As care shifts towards specialized centers, this charge differential may have significant impact on future health care costs.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III Cost Effectiveness Study.
STUDY DESIGN: We performed a retrospective study of the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) database from 2009 to 2013. We assessed total charge, length of stay (LOS), and charge per day for all inpatients with an emergency pediatric surgery diagnosis, controlling for severity of illness (SOI). Using published resources, we assigned theoretical level designations to each hospital.
RESULTS: Two hospitals would qualify as Level 1 hospitals, with 4593 total emergency pediatric surgery admissions (38.5%) over the five-year study period. Charges were significantly higher for children treated at Level I hospitals (all P<0.0001). Across all SOI, children at Level I hospitals had significantly longer LOS (all P<0.0001).
CONCLUSION: Hospitals defined as Level II and Level III provided the majority of care and were able to do so with shorter hospitalizations and lower charges, regardless of SOI. As care shifts towards specialized centers, this charge differential may have significant impact on future health care costs.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III Cost Effectiveness Study.
Full text links
Related Resources
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app
All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.
By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
Your Privacy Choices
You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app