Variation and Drivers of Costs for Emergency Department Visits Among Children in 8 States

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To describe variation in costs for emergency department (ED) visits among children and to assess hospital and regional factors associated with costs. METHODS Cross-sectional study of all ED encounters among children under 18 years in 8 states from 2014 to 2018. The primary outcome was each hospital’s mean inflation-adjusted ED costs. We evaluated variability in costs between hospitals and determined factors associated with costs using hierarchical linear models at the state, region, and hospital levels. Models adjusted for pediatric case mix, regional wages, Medicaid share, trauma status, critical access status, ownership, and market competitiveness. RESULTS We analyzed 22.9 million ED encounters across 713 hospitals. The median ED-level cost was $269 (range 99–1863). There was a 5.1-fold difference in median ED-level costs between the lowest- and highest-cost regions (range 119–605). ED-level costs were associated with case mix index (+38% per 10% increase, 95% confidence interval [CI] 30 to 47); wages [+7% per 10% increase, 95% CI 5 to 9]); critical access (adjusted costs, +24%, 95% CI 13 to 35); for profit status (−20%, 95% CI −26 to −14) compared with nonprofit, lowest trauma designation (+17%, 95% CI 5 to 30); teaching hospital status (+7%, 95% CI 1 to 14); highest number of inpatient beds (+13%, 95% CI 4 to 23); and Medicaid share versus quarter (Q)1 (Q2: −12%, 95% CI −18 to −7; Q3: −13%, 95% CI −19 to −7; Q4: −11%, 95% CI −17 to −4). CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest nonclinical factors are important drivers of pediatric health care costs.