But whether that’s good or bad is unclear, the researchers say in the study, published today in
JAMA Pediatrics.
“There’s something big going on here that we need to be paying attention to,” said lead author Kristin Ray, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of pediatrics in
Pitt’s School of Medicine. “The trend is likely a combination of both positive and negative changes. For example, if families avoid bringing their kids in because of worry about high co-pays and deductibles, that’s very concerning. But if this is the result of better preventive care keeping kids healthier or perhaps more physician offices providing advice over the phone to support parents caring for kids at home when they’ve got minor colds or stomach bugs, that’s a good thing.”
Ray and her colleagues examined insurance claims data from 2008 through 2016 for children 17-years-old and younger. The data came from a large commercial health plan that covers millions of children across all 50 states with a range of benefit options.
In that time span, primary care visits for any reason decreased by 14%.
Preventive care, or “well child” visits, increased by nearly 10%. This change occurred during the years when the
Affordable Care Act eliminated co-pays for such visits. But that increase was eclipsed by a much larger decrease in problem-based visits for things such as illness or injury, with these visits declining by 24%. Among problem-based visits, decreases were seen for all types of diagnoses, except for psychiatric and behavioral health visits, which increased by 42%.
“This means that children and their families are visiting their pediatrician less throughout the year, presumably resulting in fewer opportunities for the pediatrician to connect with families on preventive care and healthy behaviors, like vaccinations and good nutrition,” said Ray, also a pediatrician and director of health system improvements at
UPMC Children’s Community Pediatrics. “The question is: Why? We don’t have the definitive answer, but our data give us some clues.”
One possible explanation is that children are getting care elsewhere. Visits to urgent care, retail clinics and telemedicine consults for problem-based care increased during the study period. But that increase accounted for only about half of the decrease in visits to primary care pediatricians.
Higher out-of-pocket costs probably also explain why some parents aren’t taking their children to the pediatrician for medical concerns, Ray said. During the time period studied, out-of-pocket costs for problem-based visits increased 42%, while inflation-adjusted median household income rose by only 5%. Previous studies have found that even
$1-$10 increases in copayments are associated with fewer visits.
The drop in visits is not isolated to children. “This decline among children is echoed in other studies among younger and older adults,” added senior author Ateev Mehrotra, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of health care policy at
Harvard Medical School. “Due to a variety of forces, Americans are not as connected with their primary care providers.”
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CREDIT BOTH: UPMC
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Top: Pediatric primary care visits declining
Bottom: Kristin Ray, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and pediatrician and director of health system improvements, UPMC Children’s Community Pediatrics