Comparison of Uninsured and Privately Insured Hospital Patients: Condition on Admission, Resource Use, and Outcome

Abstract

The authors of this study sought to identify whether there are statistically significant differences between uninsured patients and those with private insurance in three sets of factors related to hospital care: are the uninsured sicker when admitted to the hospital; are fewer resources used in their hospital care, given their condition upon admission; and, given their admission condition, do they have poorer outcomes? Statistical analyses were performed on a data file of 592,598 discharge abstracts selected from over 10 million discharge abstracts for 1987 submitted to the Commission on Professional and Hospital Activities. Analysis of the data suggested to Hadley, et al. that an individual's condition on admission to the hospital, use of resources during hospitalization, and likelihood of in-hospital death vary depending on whether the individual has health insurance. (KIE abstract)