Top

BMC Health Services Research

Published in:

Open Access 01-12-2024 | Research

An analysis of the diagnoses and costs of pediatric emergency care visits: a single center study

Authors: Annika Kauppala, Paula Heikkilä, Sauli Palmu

Published in: BMC Health Services Research | Issue 1/2024

Abstract

Background

Children’s emergency care visits are common, although the costs and reasons for visits vary. This register-based study examines the costs of pediatric emergency care and the diagnoses related to visits made to the Pediatric Emergency Unit at Tampere University Hospital (Tays), Tampere, Finland.

Methods

This retrospective study described pediatric emergency care visits made between September 2018 and December 2019 to a single center in Tampere, Finland. The data were gathered from medical files and from cost-per-patient software and analyzed in groups by age, season, level of treatment in the ED (primary or secondary), and hospitalization, as well as by diagnosis groups.

Results

During the study period, 11,454 visits were made. The total costs were over €3,380,000 ($2,837,758), with a median cost per visit was €260 ($217.90). Higher costs were associated with hospitalization and treatment in secondary care. The most common diagnoses were respiratory tract infections, counseling, other infections, GI symptoms, and other reasons.

Conclusion

Seriously ill children incur the highest costs per visit in pediatric emergency care. Respiratory tract infections are common reasons for emergency care visits, and the reasons why children come to emergency care in Finland are similar to those in other countries.

Available only for authorised users

Rasooly IR, Mullins PM, Alpern ER, Pines J. M. US emergency department use by children, 2001–2010. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2014;30(9):602–7.CrossRefPubMed

Jeng MJ, et al. A 10-year population-based nationwide descriptive analysis of pediatric emergency care. BMC Pediatr. 2014;14:100.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Freed GL, Gafforini S, Carson N. Age distribution of emergency department presentations in Victoria. Emerg Med Australas. 2015;27(2):102–7.CrossRefPubMed

Tang N, Stein J, Hsia RY, Maselli JH, Gonzales R. Trends and characteristics of US emergency department visits, 1997–2007. JAMA. 2010;304:664–70.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Moore BJ, Stocks C, Owens PL. Trends in Emergency Department visits, 2006–2014. HCUP statistical brief #227. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2017.

Montalbano A, Rodean J, Kangas J, Lee B, Hall M. Urgent care and emergency department visits in the pediatric Medicaid population. Pediatrics 137(4), e20153100 (2016).

Dueck A, Poenaru D, Pichora DR. Cost factors in Canadian pediatric trauma. Can J Surg. 2001;44(2):117–21.PubMedPubMedCentral

Hsia RY, MacIsaac D, Palm E, Baker LC. Trends in charges and payments for nonhospitalized emergency department pediatric visits, 1996–2003. Acad Emerg Med. 2008;15(4):347–54.CrossRefPubMed

Yang N-P, et al. Utilization of and direct expenditure for emergency medical care in Taiwan: a population-based descriptive study. J Epidemiol. 2009;19(1):41–8.MathSciNetCrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

10.

Monuteaux MC, Bourgeois FT, Mannix R, Samnaliev M, Stack AM. Variation and trends in charges for pediatric care in Massachusetts emergency departments, 2000–2011. Acad Emerg Med. 2015;22(10):1164–71.CrossRefPubMed

11.

Cag Y, Ozcetin M, Abdurrahman AO, Elveren H. Evaluation of using pediatric emergency rooms. North Clin Istanb. 2019;6(2):134–40.PubMed

12.

McDermott KW, Stocks C, Freeman WJ. February. Overview of pediatric emergency department visits, 2015: statistical brief #242. (2018 Aug 7). In Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Statistical Briefs [internet] (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [US], Rockville, MD, 2006). Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526418/ (Accessed: 16 May 2023).

13.

Bourgeois FT, Shannon MW. Emergency care for children in pediatric and general emergency departments. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2007;23(2):94–102.CrossRefPubMed

14.

Meehan E, et al. Comparing emergency department presentations among children with cerebral palsy with general childhood presentations: a data linkage study. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2017;59(11):1188–95.CrossRefPubMed

15.

Piller S, Herzog D. The burden of visits for fever at a paediatric emergency room: a retrospective study on patients presenting at the Cantons Hospital of Fribourg, a peripheral public hospital of Switzerland. Pediatr Health Med Ther. 2019;10:147–52.CrossRef

16.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD Data (no date). Available at: https://data.oecd.org/conversion/purchasing-power-parities-ppp.htm (Accessed: May 15, 2023).

17.

Melo MR et al. Dedicated pediatricians in emergency department: shorter waiting times and lower costs. PLoS ONE. 11(8), e0161149 (2016).

18.

Pöyry H, et al. The most common diagnoses and costs of paediatric emergency department visits: a population-based cohort study. Acta Paediatr. 2022;111(1):169–70.CrossRefPubMed

19.

Hasegawa K, Tsugawa Y, Cohen A, Camargo CA. Jr. Infectious disease-related emergency department visits among children in the US. Pediatr Infect Dis. 2015;34(7):681–5.CrossRef

20.

Leigh S, et al. The cost of diagnostic uncertainty: a prospective economic analysis of febrile children attending an NHS emergency department. BMC Med. 2019;17(1):48.MathSciNetCrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

21.

Riva B et al. Emergency department use by paediatric patients in Lombardy region, Italy: a population study. BMJ Paediatr Open 2(1), e000247 (2018).

22.

Lipsett SC, Monuteaux MC, Fine AM. Seasonality of common pediatric infectious diseases. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2021;37(2):82–5.CrossRefPubMed

23.

Raucci U, et al. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the emergency department of a tertiary children’s hospital. Ital J Pediatr. 2021;47(1):21.MathSciNetCrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

24.

Korotchikova I, et al. Paediatric attendances of the emergency department in a major Irish tertiary referral centre before and after expansion of free GP care to children under 6: a retrospective observational study. BMJ Paediatr Open. 2021;5(1):e000862.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

25.

Tuygun N, et al. Evaluation of changes in pediatric emergency department utilization during COVID-19 pandemic. Arch Pediatr. 2021;28(8):677–82.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Title: An analysis of the diagnoses and costs of pediatric emergency care visits: a single center study
Authors: Annika Kauppala
Paula Heikkilä
Sauli Palmu
Publication date: 01-12-2024
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: BMC Health Services Research / Issue 1/2024
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6963
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-10746-1

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

An analysis of the diagnoses and costs of pediatric emergency care visits: a single center study

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2024

The development of a novel sexual health promotion intervention for young people with mental ill-health: the PROSPEct project

Breast cancer screening among Medicare Advantage enrollees with dementia

An exploration of service use pattern changes and cost analysis following implementation of community perinatal mental health teams in pregnant women with a history of specialist mental healthcare in England: a national population-based cohort study

Examining nurses' understanding and knowledge about preparation for COVID-19 in Ardabil hospitals in Iran

Engaging stakeholders to level up COPD care in LMICs: lessons learned from the “Breathe Well” programme in Brazil, China, Georgia, and North Macedonia

Cost-effectiveness analysis of CTZ/TAZ for the treatment of ventilated hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia in Japan