Dataset Information

Factors Associated With Urgent Care Reliance and Outpatient Health Care Use Among Children Enrolled in Medicaid.

ABSTRACT: Importance:Urgent care (UC) centers are a growing option to address children's acute care needs, which may cause unanticipated changes in health care use. Objectives:To identify factors associated with high UC reliance among children enrolled in Medicaid and examine the association between UC reliance and outpatient health care use. Design, Setting, and Participants:A retrospective cohort study used deidentified data on 4?133?238 children from the Marketscan Medicaid multistate claims database to calculate UC reliance and outpatient health care use. Children were younger than 19 years, with 11 months or more of continuous Medicaid enrollment and 1 or more UC, emergency department (ED), primary care provider (PCP; physician, advanced practice nurse, or physician assistant; well-child care [WCC] or non-WCC), or specialist outpatient visit during the 2017 calendar year. Statistical analysis was conducted from November 11 to 26, 2019. Exposures:Urgent care, ED, PCP (WCC and non-WCC), and specialist visits based on coded location of services. Main Outcomes and Measures:Urgent care reliance, calculated by the number of UC visits divided by the sum of total outpatient (UC, ED, PCP, and specialist) visits. High UC reliance was defined as UC visits totaling more than 33% of all outpatient visits. Results:Of 4?133?238 children in the study, 2?090?278 (50.6%) were male, with a median age of 9 years (interquartile range, 4-13 years). A total of 223?239 children (5.4%) had high UC reliance. Children 6 to 12 years of age were more likely to have high UC reliance compared with children 13 to 18 years of age (adjusted odds ratio, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.06-1.09). Compared with white children, black children (adjusted odds ratio, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.81-0.82) and Hispanic children (adjusted odds ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.60-0.61) were less likely to have high UC reliance. Adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and presence of chronic or complex conditions, children with high UC reliance had significantly fewer PCP encounters (WCC: adjusted rate ratio, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.60-0.61; and non-WCC: adjusted rate ratio, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.41-0.41), specialist encounters (adjusted rate ratio, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.31-0.31), and ED encounters (adjusted rate ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.67-0.68) than children with low UC reliance. Conclusions and Relevance:High UC reliance occurred more often in healthy, nonminority, school-aged children and was associated with lower health care use across other outpatient settings. There may be an opportunity in certain populations to ensure that UC reliance does not disrupt the medical home model.

SUBMITTER: Burns RR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7203605 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Factors Associated With Urgent Care Reliance and Outpatient Health Care Use Among Children Enrolled in Medicaid.

Burns Rebecca R RR Alpern Elizabeth R ER Rodean Jonathan J Canares Therese T Lee Brian R BR Hall Matt M Montalbano Amanda A

JAMA network open 20200501 5

<h4>Importance</h4>Urgent care (UC) centers are a growing option to address children's acute care needs, which may cause unanticipated changes in health care use.<h4>Objectives</h4>To identify factors associated with high UC reliance among children enrolled in Medicaid and examine the association between UC reliance and outpatient health care use.<h4>Design, setting, and participants</h4>A retrospective cohort study used deidentified data on 4 133 238 children from the Marketscan Medicaid multis ...[more]

PMID: 32374396

Similar Datasets

Project description:ImportancePostpartum Medicaid eligibility extensions are likely to shift enrollees from commercial to Medicaid coverage in the postpartum year; however, the potential implications for health care use and spending are unknown.ObjectiveTo compare health care use and spending among individuals with a Medicaid-paid birth who had continuous Medicaid vs continuous commercial insurance during months 3 to 12 post partum.Design, setting, and participantsCross-sectional study using linked all-payer claims, birth records, and income data for Medicaid-paid births in the Colorado All Payer Claims Database from 2014 to 2019 to estimate the association between continuous Medicaid vs commercial insurance and health care use and spending during months 3 to 12 post partum.ExposureContinuous enrollment in Medicaid vs commercial insurance during months 3 to 12 post partum.Main outcomes and measuresPrimary outcomes were the rate and number of primary care and outpatient visits, and total out-of-pocket spending during months 3 to 12 post partum. Secondary outcomes were the rate and number of emergency department visits and hospitalizations during months 3 to 12 post partum.ResultsThe 44 471 individuals in the sample had a mean (SD) age of 26.8 (5.50) years. Self-reported race and ethnicity included 1279 (2.9%) Asian individuals, 4028 (9.1%) Black individuals, 33 534 (75.4%) White individuals, as well as 5630 (12.7%) individuals of other race and ethnicity (American Indian or Alaskan Native; Other Pacific Islander; and unspecified). Of these, 19 337 (43.5%) self-identified as Hispanic individuals. The sample included 42 989 individuals continuously enrolled in Medicaid and 1482 individuals continuously enrolled in commercial insurance during months 3 to 12 post partum. Compared with those continuously enrolled in Medicaid, commercially insured enrollees were older (32.2% of commercial enrollees were between the ages of 30-39 vs 27.5% of Medicaid enrollees, P < .001), less likely to be Hispanic (38.9% in commercial vs 43.7% in Medicaid, P < .001) or born in the US (15.6% in commercial vs 19.6% in Medicaid, P < .001), and more likely to be married (62.8% in commercial vs 54.8% in Medicaid, P < .001), have completed college (32.9% in commercial vs 16.5% in Medicaid, P < .001), and initiated early prenatal care (79.7% in commercial vs 72.5% in Medicaid, P < .001). In multivariable models, individuals with commercial insurance were 2.46 percentage points (95% CI, 2.12-2.79 percentage points; P < .001) more likely to attend a primary care visit and had 0.81 (95% CI, 0.70-0.92; P < .001) additional primary care visits total during months 3 to 12 post partum. Individuals enrolled in commercial insurance were 7.92 percentage points (95% CI, -8.44 to -7.40 percentage points; P = .006) less likely to visit an emergency department compared with those enrolled in Medicaid. Total adjusted per person spending was $1110 (95% CI, $509-$1710; P < .001) higher, and total out-of-pocket spending per person was $796 (95% CI, $754-$838; P < .001) higher for those enrolled in commercial insurance vs Medicaid.Conclusions and relevanceIn this study, primary care use was higher and emergency department use was lower among those continuously enrolled in commercial vs Medicaid insurance during months 3 to 12 post partum. Medicaid rather than commercial insurance was associated with decreased exposure to out-of-pocket costs during months 3 to 12 postpartum for individuals with low income.

Project description:ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between federally qualified health center (FQHC) use and hospital-based care among individuals dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid.Data sourcesData were obtained from 2012 to 2018 Medicare claims.Study designWe modeled hospital-based care as a function of FQHC use, person-level factors, a Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) indicator, and ZIP code fixed effects. Outcomes included emergency department (ED) visits (overall and nonemergent), observation stays, hospitalizations (overall and for ambulatory care sensitive conditions), and 30-day unplanned returns. We stratified all models on the basis of eligibility and rurality.Data extraction methodsOur sample included individuals dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid for at least two full consecutive years, residing in a primary care service area with an FQHC. We excluded individuals without primary care visits, who died, or had end-stage renal disease.Principal findingsAfter the Medicare PPS was introduced, FQHC use in rural counties was associated with fewer ED and nonemergent ED visits per 100 person-years among both age-eligible (-14.8 [-17.5, -12.1]; -6.6 [-7.5, -5.6]) and disability-eligible duals (-11.3 [-14.4, -8.3]; -6 [-7.4, -4.6]) as well as a lower probability of observation stays (-0.8 pp age-eligible; -0.4 pp disability-eligible) and unplanned returns (-2.1 pp age-eligible; -1.9 pp disability-eligible). In urban counties, FQHC use was associated with more ED and nonemergent ED visits per 100 person-years (10.6 [8.4, 12.8]; 4.0 [2.6, 5.4]) among disability-eligible duals (a decrease of more than 60% compared with the pre-PPS period) and increases in the probability of hospitalization (1.1 pp age-eligible; 0.8 pp disability-eligible) and ACS hospitalization (0.5 pp age-eligible; 0.3 pp disability-eligible) (a decrease of roughly 50% compared with the pre-PPS period).ConclusionsFQHC use is associated with reductions in hospital-based care among dual enrollees after introduction of the Medicare PPS. Further research is needed to understand how FQHCs can tailor care to best serve this complex population.

Project description:ImportanceThere is a recommendation for children to have a dental home by 6 months of age, but there is limited evidence supporting the effectiveness of early preventive dental care or whether primary care providers (PCPs) can deliver it.ObjectiveTo investigate the effectiveness of preventive dental care in reducing caries-related treatment visits among Medicaid enrollees.Design, setting, and participantsHigh-dimensional propensity scores were used to address selection bias for a retrospective cohort study of children continuously enrolled in coverage from the Alabama Medicaid Agency from birth between 2008 and 2012, adjusting for demographics, access to care, and general health service use.ExposuresChildren receiving preventive dental care prior to age 2 years from PCPs or dentists vs no preventive dental care.Main outcome and measuresTwo-part models estimated caries-related treatment and expenditures.ResultsAmong 19 658 eligible children, 25.8% (n = 3658) received early preventive dental care, of whom 44% were black, 37.6% were white, and 16.3% were Hispanic. Compared with matched children without early preventive dental care, children with dentist-delivered preventive dental care more frequently had a subsequent caries-related treatment (20.6% vs 11.3%, P < .001), higher rate of visits (0.29 vs 0.15 per child-year, P < .001), and greater dental expenditures ($168 vs $87 per year, P < .001). Dentist-delivered preventive dental care was associated with an increase in the expected number of caries-related treatment visits by 0.14 per child per year (95% CI, 0.11-0.16) and caries-related treatment expenditures by $40.77 per child per year (95% CI, $30.48-$51.07). Primary care provider-delivered preventive dental care did not significantly affect caries-related treatment use or expenditures.Conclusions and relevanceChildren with early preventive care visits from dentists were more likely to have subsequent dental care, including caries-related treatment, and greater expenditures than children without preventive dental care. There was no association with subsequent caries-related treatment and preventive dental care from PCPs. We observed no evidence of a benefit of early preventive dental care, regardless of the provider. Additional research beyond administrative data may be necessary to elucidate any benefits of early preventive dental care.

Dataset Information

Factors Associated With Urgent Care Reliance and Outpatient Health Care Use Among Children Enrolled in Medicaid.

Publications

Factors Associated With Urgent Care Reliance and Outpatient Health Care Use Among Children Enrolled in Medicaid.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets