Gender and utilization of ancillary services

Area of Science:

• Healthcare utilization research
• Medical economics
• Health services research

Background:

• Ancillary services are crucial for patient diagnosis and treatment.
• Understanding disparities in healthcare resource utilization is essential for equitable care.
• Previous research has explored gender differences in healthcare, but specific utilization of ancillary services requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate potential gender-based differences in the utilization of ancillary services among hospitalized patients.
• To quantify the association between gender and the number and cost of laboratory and radiology tests.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of laboratory and radiology tests for adult inpatients (excluding obstetrics).
• Data collected over 16-month (laboratory) and 20-month (radiology) periods.
• Analysis included crude and adjusted comparisons for test utilization, associated charges, and total admission charges, controlling for age, race, insurance, service, DRG weight, and length of stay.

Main Results:

• Men received significantly more clinical laboratory and radiology tests than women.
• Women had lower associated charges for both laboratory and radiology tests compared to men.
• After adjustment for confounders, women still showed reduced utilization of laboratory tests (3.7% fewer) and radiology examinations (10.4% fewer), with associated cost differences persisting.

Conclusions:

• Men consistently utilize more ancillary services than women in inpatient settings.
• These gender-based disparities in ancillary service utilization remain even after adjusting for significant confounding variables.
• The findings suggest a potential gender bias influencing healthcare resource allocation for hospitalized patients.