Trends in Costs of Birth Hospitalization and Readmissions for Late Preterm Infants
Rebecca R. Speer,
Eric W. Schaefer,
Mahoussi Aholoukpe,
Douglas L. Leslie,
Chintan K. Gandhi
Affiliations
Rebecca R. Speer
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA
Eric W. Schaefer
Department of Public Health Sciences, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA
Mahoussi Aholoukpe
Center for Host defense, Inflammation, and Lung Disease (CHILD) Research, Department of Pediatrics, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, P.O. Box 850, H085, Hershey, PA 17033, USA
Douglas L. Leslie
Department of Public Health Sciences, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA
Chintan K. Gandhi
Center for Host defense, Inflammation, and Lung Disease (CHILD) Research, Department of Pediatrics, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, P.O. Box 850, H085, Hershey, PA 17033, USA
Background: The objective is to study previously unexplored trends of birth hospitalization and readmission costs for late preterm infants (LPIs) in the United States between 2005 and 2016. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of claims data to study healthcare costs of birth hospitalization and readmissions for LPIs compared to term infants (TIs) using a large private insurance database. We used a generalized linear regression model to study birth hospitalization and readmission costs. Results: A total of 2,123,143 infants were examined (93.2% TIs; 6.8% LPIs). The proportion of LPIs requiring readmission was 4.2% compared to 2.1% of TIs, (p p p Conclusions: LPIs continue to have a higher cost of birth hospitalization and readmission compared to TIs, but these costs have decreased since 2014. Standardization of birth hospitalization care for LPIs may reduce costs and improve quality of care and outcomes.
