The financial implications of telemedicine practice patterns across pediatric surgical specialties

Chwa, Emily S.; Weissman, Joshua P.; Applebaum, Sarah A.; Gosain, Arun K.

doi:10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2022.04.022

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“… 27 , 44 , 46 Additionally, with increased use of telemedicine in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic, a single institution study demonstrated that surgical specialty telehealth visits are associated with lower hospital charges compared with in-person encounters, though reimbursements were not significantly different. 47 The introduction of evidence-based clinical care and/or enhanced recovery after surgery protocols for common surgical procedures such as cleft palate repair, appendicitis, and blunt abdominal trauma have also effectively decreased length of stay and costs. 27 , 42 , 48 These efforts by hospitals are evidence of attempts to maintain high-quality care while optimizing cost efficiency.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Unpaid Children’s Hospital Account Balances Correlate with Family Income or Insurance Type?

Yau,

Lentskevich,

Yau

et al. 2023

Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery - Global Open

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Background: Current understanding of medical debt among various income ranges and insurance carriers is limited. We analyzed median household incomes, insurance carriers, and medical debt of plastic surgery patients at a major metropolitan children’s hospital. Methods: A retrospective chart review for zip codes, insurance carriers, and account balances was conducted for 2018–2021. All patients were seen by members of the Division of Pediatric Plastic Surgery at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Blue Cross was reported separately among other commercial insurance carriers by the hospital’s business analytics department. Median household income by zip code was obtained. IBM SPSS Statistics was used to perform chi-squared tests to study the distribution of unpaid account balances by income ranges and insurance carriers. Results: Of the 6877 patients, 630 had unpaid account balances. Significant differences in unpaid account balances existed among twelve insurance classes (P < 0.001). There were significant differences among unpaid account balances when further examined by median household income ranges for Blue Cross (P < 0.001) and other commercial insurance carriers (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Although patients with insurance policies requiring higher out-of-pocket costs (ie, Blue Cross and other commercial insurance carriers) are generally characterized by higher household incomes, these patients were found to have higher unpaid account balances than patients with public insurance policies. This suggests that income alone is not predictive of unpaid medical debt and provides greater appreciation of lower income families who may make a more consistent effort in repaying their medical debt.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Unpaid Children’s Hospital Account Balances Correlate with Family Income or Insurance Type?

Yau,

Lentskevich,

Yau

et al. 2023

Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery - Global Open

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“…25 On top of that, the technology necessary for telehealth can present a barrier to care, 19 although total charges for telemedicine visits were found to be lower than in-person visits across surgical specialties at a pediatric institution. 26 The perceptions of telehealth by providers and patients were also studied. Physicians at the University of California San Francisco conducted a survey study of patient and patient family perspectives, which found success with telehealth for multidisciplinary craniofacial evaluations because of the aforementioned advantages.…”

Section: Telemedicinementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other types of evaluations, such as for feeding, imaging, and lip molding, also necessitate in-person visits 25 . On top of that, the technology necessary for telehealth can present a barrier to care, 19 although total charges for telemedicine visits were found to be lower than in-person visits across surgical specialties at a pediatric institution 26 …”

Section: Telemedicinementioning

confidence: 99%

Pediatric Plastic Surgery in the COVID-19 Era

Levy,

Villavisanis,

Sarosi

et al. 2024

Ann Plast Surg

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The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the healthcare system to adopt novel strategies to treat patients. Pediatric plastic surgeons are uniquely exposed to high rates of infections during examinations and surgeries via aerosol-generating procedures, in part because of the predilection of viral particles for the nasal cavities and pharynx. Telemedicine has emerged as a useful virtual medium for encouraging prolonged patient follow-up while maintaining physical distance. It has proven beneficial in mitigating infection risks while decreasing the financial burden on patients, their families, and healthcare teams. New trends driven by the pandemic added multiple elements to the patient-physician relationship and have left a lasting impact on the field of pediatric plastic surgery in clinical guidelines, surgical care, and patient outcomes. Lessons learned help inform pediatric plastic surgeons on how to reduce future viral infection risk and lead a more appropriately efficient surgical team depending on early triage.

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The Cost Impact of Telehealth Interventions in Pediatric Surgical Specialties: A Systematic Review

Jungbauer

Gudipudi

Brennan

et al. 2023

Journal of Pediatric Surgery

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The financial implications of telemedicine practice patterns across pediatric surgical specialties

Cited by 4 publications

References 20 publications

Do Unpaid Children’s Hospital Account Balances Correlate with Family Income or Insurance Type?

Do Unpaid Children’s Hospital Account Balances Correlate with Family Income or Insurance Type?

Pediatric Plastic Surgery in the COVID-19 Era

The Cost Impact of Telehealth Interventions in Pediatric Surgical Specialties: A Systematic Review

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