Black, Hispanic and Asian and Pacific Islander patients face higher costs when undergoing emergency surgeries compared to white patients, a recent UCLA study found.
The study, published in the June edition of Surgery Open Science, analyzed data from over 3 million patients from the National Inpatient Sample between 2011 and 2020. They focused on patients who underwent abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, coronary artery bypass surgery and colon cancer resection. Researchers compared hospitalization costs between emergency and planned surgeries across different racial groups, accounting for age, insurance status and underlying health conditions.
Here are six things to know:
1. Over 45 million surgical procedures are performed annually. Previous research suggests that converting just 10% of emergency surgeries to planned procedures for conditions covered by free screening could save $1 billion over a decade, according to the news release.
2. Black patients received less screening for conditions like colorectal cancer, coronary artery disease and abdominal aortic aneurysms, which leads to more frequent emergency surgeries.
3. Emergency surgeries cost an average of $13,645 more per patient than planned surgeries, which increases hospitalization costs by 33%.
4. For white patients, the cost of emergency surgery was $13,086. But Black patients had an additional cost of $15,552, Hispanic patients $14,525 and Asian and Pacific Islander patients $16,887.
5. The number of emergency procedures increased from 39.4% in 2011 to 44.5% in 2020.
6. Emergency surgeries are also associated with higher rates of death, complications and longer hospital stays.
“What’s particularly striking is that these are largely preventable costs — we know how to screen for aneurysms, heart disease and colorectal cancer,” Saad Mallick, MD, lead author of the study and a fellow at the Center for Advanced Surgical & Interventional Technology at the department of surgery at UCLA, said in the release. “The question is whether we have the determination to ensure all Americans have equal access to these essential services. Every emergency surgery that could have been prevented underscores the potential to improve patient outcomes and the challenges they face, while also revealing a gap in the healthcare system.”
