Hospitalized teens. Ambulatory care utilization patterns

Area of Science:

• Pediatric healthcare utilization
• Adolescent mental health services
• Trauma care outcomes

Background:

• Adolescents with trauma or mental health diagnoses represent a vulnerable population.
• Understanding healthcare utilization patterns is crucial for effective intervention.
• Federally qualified Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) provide a setting for studying healthcare access.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare health care utilization between hospitalized adolescents and a matched control group.
• To identify patterns of care preceding hospital admission for trauma or mental health issues.
• To inform preventive strategies within managed care systems.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of healthcare utilization over 24 months.
• Identification of adolescents (12-18 years) with trauma/mental health admissions in a Central Massachusetts HMO.
• Matching study cases with a control group based on age, sex, and enrollment duration.

Main Results:

• Hospitalized adolescents were less likely to be in school and living with parents.
• Study cases exhibited higher episodic care use, particularly in the 6 months before admission.
• Both groups showed higher office-based provider visits than national averages.

Conclusions:

• Enhanced awareness of utilization patterns and risk behaviors can improve prevention.
• Utilizing better instruments for health habits and lifestyle data can aid preventive interventions.
• Collaboration between pediatric primary care, Information Services (IS), and Quality Management (QM) can facilitate research in managed care.