Friday, November 20, 2009
After trauma, uninsured patients more apt to die
Hospitalized trauma patients without insurance are more likely to die than those who are insured, a new study in the Archives of Surgery finds.
Most research has focused on access-to-care as a likely cause of care disparities between the insured and uninsured. By looking at hospitalized patients, however, this study suggests other factors may be at play.
Researchers analyzed records from the National Trauma Data Bank, assessing demographic info, medical history, injury severity, outcomes and charges for 687,091 adult admitted between 2002 and 2006. Patients were divided into five insurance categories: uninsured, a managed care organization, commercial indemnity insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. Overall, the uninsured had the highest death rates after controlling for sex, age, race and severity and type of injury. This held true for young adults (age 18-30 years), too, who were less apt to have co-morbid illnesses.
The study authors speculate that patients without insurance may be at higher risk due to treatment delay, lower health literacy, and receipt of fewer diagnostic tests. "Treatment often is initiated before payer status is recognized; thus, this provokes the question of whether differences exist in processes of care during the hospital stay," the authors said.
Labels: mortality, trauma, uninsured
posted by Jessica Berthold at
8:00 AM
0 Comments
Contact ACP Hospitalist
Send comments to ACP Hospitalist staff at acphospitalist@acponline.org.
Previous Posts
- The high price of septicemia
- Medical News of the Obvious
- Medical News of the Obvious
- Wash your hands or your badge will buzz
- Medical News of the Obvious
- Stroke 2010: Wii can do it
- Stroke 2010: Tips to manage acute ICH
- Stroke 2010: Quality metrics for neurohospitalists...
- Medical News of the Obvious
- Rural hospitals: Affiliation on the horizon?
Archives
Blog log
American Journal of Medicine
Also known as the Green Journal, the American Journal of Medicine publishes original clinical articles of interest to physicians in internal medicine and its subspecialities, both in academia and community-based practice.
Clinical Correlations
A collaborative medical blog started by Neil Shapiro, ACP Member, associate program director at New York University Medical Center's internal medicine residency program. Faculty, residents and students contribute case studies, mystery quizzes, news, commentary and more.
db's Medical Rants
Robert M. Centor, FACP, contributes short essays contemplating medicine and the health care system.
Everything Health
EverythingHealth is designed to address the rapid changes in science, medicine, health and healing in the 21st Century.
Getting Better with Dr. Val
Getting Better is the continuation of Dr. Val Jones' previous blog at Revolution Health. It is devoted to helping people understand health issues from a balanced, scientifically sound perspective.
HealthHombre
A roundup of health policy news drawn from a database of hundreds of Web sites.
Interact MD
Michael Benjamin, ACP member, doesn't accept industry money so he can create an independent, clinician-reviewed space on the Internet for physicians to report and comment on the medical news of the day.
Kevin, MD
The alter ego of Kevin Pho, ACP Member, is the closest thing to royalty in the medical blog world.
LSUHSC-S Medical Library Evidence Alert
Major guidelines, systematic reviews, meta-analyses and/or major reviews by national and international organizations.
PLoS Blog
The Public Library of Science's open access materials include a blog.
White Coat Rants
One of the most popular anonymous blogs written by a doctor.
