Trends in common surgical procedures at children's and nonchildren's hospitals between 2000 and 2009

Heather L. Short, Samir Sarda, Curtis Travers, Jason M. Hockenberry, Ian McCarthy, Mehul V Raval*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: Though growth in children's surgical expenditures has been documented, procedure-specific differences in volume and costs at children's hospitals (CH) and non-hildren's hospitals (NCH) have not been explored. Our purpose was to compare trends in volume and costs of common pediatric surgical procedures between CH and NCH. Methods: We performed a review of the 2000–2009 Kids’ Inpatient Database identifying all cases of appendectomy for uncomplicated appendicitis (AP), tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy (TA), fundoplication (FP), humeral fracture repair (HFR), pyloromyotomy (PYL), and cholecystectomy (CHOLE). Trends in case volume and costs were examined at CH versus NCH. Results: The proportion of surgical care at CH increased for all procedures from 2000 to 2009. TA and CHOLE demonstrated higher costs per case at CH. Positive growth over time in cost per case at CH was seen for AP and FP, with the cost per case of FP increasing by 21% between 2006 and 2009. Conclusions: The proportion of surgeries performed at CH is continuing to grow alongside proportionate increases in costs, however costs for certain procedures are higher at CH than NCH. Further investigation is needed to explore cost containment at CH while still maintaining specialized, high quality surgical care. Level of evidence: Level III.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1472-1477
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of pediatric surgery
Volume53
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2018

Keywords

  • Children's hospitals
  • Health care expenditures
  • Kids’ Inpatient Database (KID)
  • Nonchildren's hospitals

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Surgery
  • Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health

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