Impact of a Make-A-Wish experience on healthcare utilization

To evaluate the impact of receiving a wish from the Make-A-Wish^R Foundation on (1) patient healthcare utilization and (2) savings benefit measures.

Make-A-Wish^R arranges experiences, or "wishes," to children with progressive, life-threatening, or life-limiting illness. A retrospective, case-control analysis was performed comparing patients who received or did not receive a wish and associated impact on healthcare utilization and costs across 2 years. Healthcare utilization was defined as visits to primary, urgent, emergent care, and planned/unplanned inpatient hospitalizations. We defined wish savings benefit as a decline in the cost of care from years 1 to 2, which exceeded the average cost of a wish in 2016, $10,130.

From 2011 to 2016, 496 Nationwide Children's Hospital patients received a wish. We matched these patients to 496 controls based on age, gender, disease category, and disease complexity. Patients who received a wish were 2.5 and 1.9 times more likely to have fewer unplanned hospital admissions and emergency department visits, respectively. These decreases were associated with a higher likelihood (2.3-fold and 2.2-fold greater odds) of the wish achieving a savings benefit compared to hospital charges.

Participation in the Make-A-Wish^R program may provide children quality of life relief while reducing hospital visits and healthcare expenditures.