This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Higher likelihood of operative intervention found among patients with private insurance
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Among patients with clavicle fractures, investigators found those with any form of private insurance had a higher likelihood of operative intervention compared with self-paid patients or patients with Medicare or Medicaid.
Using data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, researchers identified 5,185 patients with clavicle fractures. Researchers used multivariate logistic regression to determine the association of payer source and treatment choice adjusting for race, age, number of chronic conditions, sex and household median income for the patient’s zip code.
Peter C. Krause
Ryan L. Bliss
Overall, results showed 4.5% of patients underwent internal fixation. Researchers found 41.3% of patients had private insurance as the primary payer source, with private insurance reports among 74.1% of patients in the operative treatment group and among 39.8% of patients in the nonoperative group. According to results, there was a smaller proportion of Medicare and Medicaid in the operative treatment group.
Researchers noted patients with private insurance had a 7.58-times greater odds of receiving internal fixation vs. self-pay patients. Similarly, patients with worker’s compensation, CHAMPUS, CHAMPVA or other government insurance other than Medicare and Medicaid had an increased likelihood of receiving internal fixation vs. self-pay patients, according to results. Researchers found no statistical differences between patients with Medicare or Medicaid and self-pay patients in the likelihood of receiving internal fixation. – by Casey Tingle
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts