Greatest increase for those with chronic conditions affecting two or more body systems
FRIDAY, Dec. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Children with chronic conditions, particularly conditions affecting two or more body systems, increasingly use more resources when hospitalized than those without chronic conditions, according to a study published online Dec. 24 in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Jay G. Berry, M.D., M.P.H., from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues retrospectively analyzed inpatient resource use in 1,526,051 unique pediatric patients hospitalized from 2004 through 2009 in 28 U.S. children's hospitals. Resource use was compared for those with or without chronic conditions.
The researchers observed a significantly larger increase in the number of children hospitalized with versus without a chronic condition (19.2 versus 13.7 percent cumulative increase). The greatest cumulative increase occurred in children with chronic conditions affecting two or more body systems. These children accounted for 19.2 percent of patients in 2009, 27.2 percent of hospital discharges, and 48.9 percent of hospital days, and incurred 53.2 percent of hospital charges. Medicaid use was also significantly higher for these children compared to those without a chronic condition (56.5 versus 49.7 percent).
"Patients with a chronic condition increasingly used more resources in a group of children's hospitals than patients without a chronic condition," Berry and colleagues conclude. "Children's hospitals must ensure that their inpatient care systems and payment structures are equipped to meet the protean needs of this important population of children."
One author is a co-developer of Clinical Risk Groups (CRGs) and receives consultation fees for classification research. The CRGs for this analysis were provided by 3M Health Information Systems.
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