The Impact of Hospital Volume and Region on Mortality, Medical Costs, and Length of Hospital Stay in Elderly Patients Following Hip Fracture: A Nationwide Claims Database Analysis.

BACKGROUD

The purpose of our study was to analyze the effects of hospital volume and region on in-hospital and long-term mortality, direct medical costs (DMCs), and length of hospital stay (LOS) in elderly patients following hip fracture, utilizing nationwide claims data.

METHODS

This retrospective nationwide study sourced its subjects from the Korean National Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database spanning from January 2011 to December 2018. A generalized estimating equation model with a Poisson distribution and logarithmic link function was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% CIs to assess the association of hospital volume with in-hospital and 1-year mortality, DMCs, and LOS.

RESULTS

A total of 172,144 patients were included. Comparing the risk of in-hospital death between high-volume and low-volume hospitals, the risk of in-hospital death was 1.2 times higher at low-volume hospitals (aOR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.07-1.33; = 0.002). Additionally, the risk of death at 1 year was 1.05 times higher at low-volume hospitals (aOR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.01-1.09; = 0.008) compared to high-volume hospitals. DMCs were 0.84 times lower at low-volume hospitals for in-hospital period (aOR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.84-0.85; < 0.001) and 0.87 times lower for 1 year (aOR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.86-0.88; < 0.001) compared to high-volume hospitals. In-hospital LOS was 1.21 times longer at low-volume hospitals (aOR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.20-1.22; < 0.001) than at high-volume hospitals. In addition, the risk of in-hospital death was 1.22 times higher (aOR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.12-1.33; < 0.001) and the risk of 1-year death was 1.07 times higher (aOR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.04-1.10; < 0.001) at rural hospitals compared to urban hospitals.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinicians should focus on improving clinical outcomes for hip fracture patients in low-volume and rural hospital settings, with a specific emphasis on reducing mortality rates.