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Delayed access to health care and mortality
Julia C Prentice1, Steven D Pizer
1Health Care Financing and Economics, VA Boston Health Care System, 150 Huntington Avenue, Mail Stop 152H, Boston, MA 02130, USA.
Health Services Research
|March 17, 2007
Summary
Longer wait times for healthcare services are linked to increased patient mortality. Veterans experiencing wait times of 31 days or more faced significantly higher mortality risks, highlighting the critical impact of timely access to care.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Public Health
- Geriatric Medicine
Background:
- Timely access to healthcare is crucial for patient outcomes.
- Long wait times for outpatient appointments may negatively impact patient health.
- Previous associations between healthcare wait times and mortality have been largely assumed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between healthcare service wait times and patient mortality.
- To quantify the association between outpatient appointment wait durations and mortality risk in veterans.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective observational study utilizing secondary administrative data from 89 Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers.
- Merged facility-level wait time data with individual veteran data (demographics, health status, mortality).
- Employed random effects logistic regression, risk-adjusted for health status and case mix, with a 6-month mortality follow-up.
Main Results:
- Veterans accessing VA medical centers with wait times of 31 days or longer demonstrated significantly higher odds of mortality.
- The odds ratio for mortality was 1.21 (p=0.027) for veterans facing longer wait times compared to those with shorter waits (<31 days).
- This finding supports a statistically significant association between extended healthcare wait times and increased mortality risk.
Conclusions:
- The study confirms a link between prolonged outpatient healthcare wait times and adverse health outcomes, specifically mortality.
- Further research is recommended to explore the causes of long healthcare waits and their consequences in diverse populations.
- Effective policy interventions aimed at reducing healthcare wait times are warranted.
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