Are Race, Age, Gender, and Insurance Status Determinants in Interhospital Helicopter Transport Time and Frequency?

Abstract

AbstractObjective:To examine the effects of age, race, gender, and insurance status on utilization and times-to-transport (TTT) for interhospital air medical transfers from rural hospitals to tertiary care centers.Design:A retrospective review of interhospital transport records. The TTT was examined as a function of age, gender, race, and insurance status using the Student's t-test for unpaired samples. The Exact Binomial Test (alpha error at 0.05) was used to compare the observed versus expected transport rates for non-whites.Setting/Participants:A total of 268 patient transfers from hospitals within a two-county region in central Pennsylvania to tertiary care centers was analyzed. All records with sufficient demographic, TTT, or insurance data were included. Absence of data was the only exclusion.Results:The TTT (mean ± SD) was longer (2666 ± 3940 minutes (min.) versus 619 ± 909 min., respectively) for adult than pediatric patients (p <O1), and (2588 ± 4041 min. versus 640 ± 1301 min., respectively) for insured versus uninsured patients (p <.O1). The observed proportion of non-whites transported was less than expected (.41% versus 2.1 %) based on the proportion of non-whites in the region (p <.O5).Conclusion:The TTT was longer for adults than for children and for the insured than the uninsured. Non-whites were transported less frequently than predicted.