IMPORTANCE Increasing hospital costs for bronchiolitis have been associated with increasing patient complexity and mechanical ventilation. However, the associations of illness severity and diagnostic coding practices with bronchiolitis hospitalization costs have not been examined.
OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of patient complexity, illness severity, and diagnostic coding practices with bronchiolitis hospitalization costs.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThis retrospective cross-sectional study included 385 883 infants aged 24 months or younger who were hospitalized with bronchiolitis at 39 hospitals in the