Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Utilization and Cost for Care of Pediatric ALL

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common childhood malignancy and requires a unique pattern of healthcare utilization including an acute/emergent presentation and an intensive initial 8 months of therapy followed by two years of outpatient treatment. The COVID-19 pandemic caused massive global disruptions in healthcare use and delivery. This report aims to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the presentation, diagnosis and continued management of childhood ALL in regard to utilization and cost of care.

Utilizing a commercial insurance claims database, 529 pediatric patients were identified who were diagnosed with ALL and completed their initial 8 months of treatment between January 2016 and December 2021. New diagnoses were evaluated by era and demographics. Utilization was measured by COVID-related era as number of inpatient and outpatient encounters, inpatient days, and cumulative cost. None of these cost or utilization factors changed significantly during or shortly after the pandemic. These findings reinforce that the necessary care for pediatric ALL is largely inflexible and was unwavering despite the massive shifts in the healthcare system caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This provides a valuable benchmark as we further examine the factors that influence the pandemic's impact on health equity and access to care, especially in vulnerable pediatric populations. This is the first investigation of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on utilization and cost of care in pediatric cancer.