Objectives: To determine whether the likelihood of readmission (adjusted for severity on first admission) for pediatric type 1 diabetes (T1D) differs between Medicaid managed care and non-managed care.
Study design: De-identified patients were retrospectively selected from the Pediatric Health Information Systems database of the Children's Hospital Association (CHA). The cohort of 42 hospitals across 25 states included discharges between 2008 and 2011 for patients who were receiving Medicaid at the time of service and had T1D as their diagnosis.
Methods: Multiple factors and co-variants for readmission were analyzed by logistic regression, including age, race, gender, severity of illness, and state of admission.
Results: Of 14,544 T1D discharges with Medicaid, 4985 were readmitted, including 1792 readmitted for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Despite similar rates of DKA between the managed care and non-managed care cohorts, overall 90-day readmission was 1.12 times more likely for Medicaid patients on non-managed care plans than those on managed care (odds ratio, 1.12; range = 1.04-1.20; both adjusted for severity of illness). Significant contributors were race, age, and gender; the relationship of location (state) and days between readmissions was also significant. The conservative estimate of cost reduction from Medicaid managed care related to lower readmission rate for pediatric T1D across CHA institutions between 2008 and 2011 was $2.6 million.
Conclusions: From the largest, national, defined cohort available for contemporary study, youths with T1D on Medicaid managed care plans were less likely to be readmitted within 90 days of discharge.