The Impact of Private Insurance Access on Nonurgent Inflammatory Bowel Disease-Related Emergency Department Use

Background Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-related Emergency Department (ED) visits are a costly component to current healthcare expenditures. Patients who are discharged directly from the ED for nonurgent issues (aka “treat and release” ED visits) present an opportunity for quality improvement. Purpose To determine the impact of private insurance on IBD-related treat and release ED visits. The secondary outcome was cost per IBD-related ED visit. Methodology A retrospective cohort study was performed on the 2006 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS). Comparisons were made between patients with access to private insurance vs those without. Multivariable survey-weighted logistic and linear regression models with clustering by hospital were created for the primary and secondary outcomes, respectively. Results In total, 19,324 patient encounters were included in the stratified analytic sample. Of these, 9272 (47.98%) patients reported private insurance as their primary payment method. An additional 10,052 (52.02%) patients reported an alternative payment form. The private insurance group was statistically younger, less likely to reside in an urban setting and had more representation within the highest income quartile. The OR of a treat and release ED visit was 1.47 (95% confidence interval 1.34–1.62) for no private insurance compared to private insurance. On average, the cost per ED visit of patients without private insurance was $214.80 ± 48.48, P < 0.001 less than those with private insurance. Conclusions Lack of private insurance is an important predictor of IBD-related treat and release ED visits.