Postpartum care visits among commercially insured women in the United States

To reduce postpartum morbidity and mortality, optimizing routine outpatient postpartum care has become a focus of national attention and a healthcare priority.

This study aimed to examine the timing, content, and predictors of routine outpatient postpartum visit attendance within a large, commercially insured patient population.

We performed a retrospective cohort study using a national US database of commercial insurance beneficiaries with a delivery hospitalization between 2011 and 2015. We calculated the proportion of patients who had an outpatient postpartum visit within 8 weeks of hospital discharge. Using a multivariable logistic regression model, we identified independent predictors of an outpatient postpartum visit. To gain insight into the nature and extent of any postpartum medical or surgical morbidity, we also identified the most frequent International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes associated with postpartum visits.

The study cohort comprised 431,969 patients who underwent delivery hospitalization, of whom 257,727 (59.7%; 95% confidence interval, 59.5-59.8) had at least 1 outpatient postpartum visit within 8 weeks of hospital discharge. The distribution of postpartum visits was bimodal, occurring most frequently in the first week (23.2%) and sixth week (21.7%) after hospital discharge. The median period between hospital discharge and the postpartum visit was 28 days (interquartile range, 8-41 days). In our multivariable model, patient-level factors that were most strongly associated with a postpartum visit were preexisting medical morbidities, which included: thyroid disease (adjusted odds ratio, 1.62; 95% confidence interval, 1.40-1.52), seizure disorder (adjusted odds ratio, 1.50; 95% confidence interval, 1.33-1.70), chronic hypertension (adjusted odds ratio, 1.46; 95% confidence interval, 1.58-1.67), and psychiatric disease (adjusted odds ratio, 1.41; 95% confidence interval, 1.36-1.47). Between 29% and 42% of patients with preexisting medical morbidity and between 35% and 41% of patients who experienced peri- or postpartum complications did not attend a postpartum visit.

Our findings indicate that among a large, commercially-insured patient population, postpartum visit attendance was suboptimal. A high proportion with preexisting medical and peripartum morbidities was not evaluated within 8 weeks of hospital discharge. Multifaceted interventions and healthcare reform are suggested to address patients' concerns and healthcare needs after delivery.