Patient outcomes associated with tailored hospital programs for intellectual disabilities

Hospitals have begun designing programs tailored to patients with intellectual disabilities to address their specific healthcare needs and social determinants of health. This study aimed to determine whether these programs improve hospital outcomes for patients with intellectual disabilities.

This cross-sectional, retrospective study analyzed data for patients with a primary or secondary diagnosis of intellectual disability and/or autism who were discharged from 5 hospitals participating in Vizient's Clinical Data Base/Resource Manager between January 2010 and September 2018.

Generalized linear regression models were constructed to test the association between tailored program status and length of stay, cost, and cost per day, and a binary logistic regression model was constructed to test the association between tailored program status and 30-day readmission. A secondary analysis stratified patients by 3M All Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Groups grouper (the standard for inpatient classification) admission severity of illness (ASOI) score.

Of the 6618 patients included in the study, 29% were treated at hospitals with tailored programs. After controlling for patient demographic characteristics and clinical factors, patients treated at hospitals without programs had higher total costs (relative risk [RR], 1.06; P = .038) and cost per day (RR, 1.11; P <.001). Patients with an extreme ASOI score who were treated at hospitals without programs had significantly longer stays (RR, 1.38; P = .001), higher total cost (RR, 1.42; P <.001), and higher cost per day (RR, 1.10; P = .025) than patients treated at hospitals with programs.

Providing tailored programs for patients with intellectual disabilities is a promising strategy for improving inpatient care for this population.