Pediatric emergency medical services in privately insured patients: A 10-year national claims analysis

2018 
Abstract Objective To characterize pediatric Emergency Medicine Service (EMS) transports to the Emergency Department (ED) using a national claims database. Methods We included children, 18 years and younger, transported by EMS to an ED, from 2007 to 2016 in the OptumLabs Data Warehouse. ICD-9 and ICD-10 diagnosis codes were used to categorize disease system involvement. Interventions performed were extracted using procedure codes. ED visit severity was measured by the Minnesota Algorithm. Results Over a 10-year period, 239,243 children were transported. Trauma was the most frequent diagnosis category for transport for children ≥5 years of age, 35.1% (age 6–13) and 32.7% (age 14–18). The most common diagnosis category in children Conclusion Trauma is the most frequent diagnosis for transport in children older than 5 years of age. Mental health and neurologic transports have markedly increased, while trauma transports have decreased. Most children arriving by ambulance were classified as requiring ED level of care. These changes might have significant implication for EMS personnel and policy makers.
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