TABLE.
Trends in Charges of Health Services in 26 US Children’s Hospitals: February Through June in 2019 vs 2020
| Health Service | Charge Comparison | Comparison of Median (IQR) Charges Per Hospital From 2020 vs 2019a,b | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| By Month | Aggregate | ||||||
| February | March | April | May | June | February-June | ||
| Inpatient | US $, Millions | –4.2 (–11.6 to 1.6) |
–11.0 (–18.3 to –4.9) |
–57.2 (–73.4 to –27.6) |
–27.4 (–39.0 to –15.6) |
–19.4 (–37.8 to –8.7) |
–109.7 (–161.4 to –58.1) |
| Percentage | –4.9% (–8.6 to 2.0) |
–11.4% (–15.5 to –5.7) |
–33.6% (–38.0 to –29.4) |
–22.2% (–29.9 to –16.7) |
–18.8% (–23.8 to –7.8) |
–18.9% (–20.5 to –13.8) |
|
| Outpatientc | US $, Millions | –3.1 (–10.0 to 5.6) |
–16.6 (–36.1 to –7.3) |
–86.4 (–110.2 to –41.0) |
–29.6 (–46.8 to –14.9) |
–14.3 (–39.4 to –7.1) |
–153.6 (–259.4 to –78.1) |
| Percentage | –3.0% (–11.0 to 7.4) |
–20.7% (–27.8 to –12.6) |
–63.2% (–67.3 to –55.3) |
–38.0% (–47.1 to –27.7) |
–20.3% (–33.6 to –10.3) |
–29.3% (–40.6 to –25.7) |
|
| Total | US $, Millions | –5.9 (–23.0 to 6.3) |
–24.8 (–49.7 to –12.1) |
–146.8 (–174.5 to –67.3) |
–68.9 (–85.7 to –27.4) |
–37.6 (–64.7 to –15.8) |
–276.3 (–404.0 to –126.0) |
| Percentage | –4.7% (–9.1 to 2.7) |
–14.7% (–19.4 to –9.4) |
–46.9% (–51.0 to –40.2) |
–29.0% (–35.5 to –24.0) |
–19.0% (–26.9 to –11.3) |
–23.6% (–28.7 to –19.1) |
|
a
Charges were summed across each day and reported monthly. Charges from 2019 were inflated using the ratio of total charges in January 2020 to those in January 2019 for each hospital.
b
All comparisons of charges were statistically significant between 2019 and 2020 at P < .001.
c
Outpatient health services included ambulatory surgery, clinic, and emergency department visits and observation-status admissions.