Availability of Pediatric Inpatient Services in the United States

Anna M. Cushing · Emily M. Bucholz · Alyna T. Chien · Daniel A. A. Rauch · Kenneth A. Michelson

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Healthcare Policy and Management Healthcare Quality and Management Child and Adolescent Health

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: We sought to evaluate trends in pediatric inpatient unit capacity and access and to measure pediatric inpatient unit closures across the United States. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of 4720 US hospitals using the 2008-2018 American Hospital Association survey. We used linear regression to describe trends in pediatric inpatient unit and PICU capacity. We compared trends in pediatric inpatient days and bed counts by state. We examined changes in access to care by calculating distance to the nearest pediatric inpatient services by census block group. We analyzed hospital characteristics associated with pediatric inpatient unit closure in a survival model. RESULTS: Pediatric inpatient units decreased by 19.1% (34 units per year; 95% confidence interval [CI] 31 to 37), and pediatric inpatient unit beds decreased by 11.8% (407 beds per year; 95% CI 347 to 468). PICU beds increased by 16.0% (66.9 beds per year; 95% CI 53 to 81), primarily at children's hospitals. Rural areas experienced steeper proportional declines in pediatric inpatient unit beds (-26.1% vs -10.0%). Most states experienced decreases in both pediatric inpatient unit beds (median state -18.5%) and pediatric inpatient days (median state -10.0%). Nearly one-quarter of US children experienced an increase in distance to their nearest pediatric inpatient unit. Low-volume pediatric units and those without an associated PICU were at highest risk of closing. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric inpatient unit capacity is decreasing in the United States. Access to inpatient care is declining for many children, particularly those in rural areas. PICU beds are increasing, primarily at large children's hospitals. Policy and surge planning improvements may be needed to mitigate the effects of these changes.

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2013Traveling Towards Disease: Transportation Barriers to Health Care Access 2016Readmissions, Observation, and the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program 2016Epidemiology of pediatric hospitalizations at general hospitals and freestanding children's hospitals in the United States

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2023Pediatric Hospitalizations at Rural and Urban Teaching and Nonteaching Hospitals in the US, 2009-2019 2024Child Health Needs and the Pediatric Hospital Medicine Workforce: 2020–2040 2024Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Child Health, and the Pediatric Subspecialty Workforce 2024Clinical Full-Time Equivalent in PICUs: Survey of the U.S. Pediatric Critical Care Chiefs Network, 2020–2022

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