Data from University of Cincinnati Broaden Understanding of Sports Medicine (Differences in Access to Outpatient Care in the State of Ohio for an Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Patient)

2021 JUN 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Sports Research Daily -- Investigators publish new report on sports medicine. According to news reporting from the University of Cincinnati by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “To evaluate the impact of either Medicaid or private insurance on securing an appointment in an outpatient orthopaedic clinic and to determine waiting periods until an appointment as well as the relationship between population metrics and access to care. A total of 88 clinics were called.”

Our news reporters obtained a quote from the research from University of Cincinnati: “There were 2 fictitious patients, one with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and the other with a medial meniscus injury, with each calling as having Medicaid or private insurance. Clinic responses were recorded for whether an appointment could be made, when it was scheduled, and with what provider. A total of 32 of 88 (36.4%) of the clinics scheduled an appointment for the Medicaid patient reporting an ACL injury versus 71 of 88 (80.6%) of the clinics that scheduled an appointment for the same patient with private insurance. A total of 34 of 88 (38.6%) of the clinics scheduled an appointment for the Medicaid patient reporting a medial meniscus injury versus 71 of 88 (80.6%) of the clinics that scheduled an appointment for the same patient with private insurance. Mean waiting period for ACL patients with Medicaid was 8.6 days and 4.5 days for patients with private insurance, whereas medial meniscus patients with Medicaid was 7.7 days and 5.4 days for patients with private insurance. In total, 60 of the 66 (90.9%) patients with Medicaid who received an appointment were scheduled to see the orthopaedic surgeon (30 in both ACL and medial meniscus groups). In total, 126 (71.6%) patients with Medicaid and 34 (19.3%) patients with private insurance of the 176 encounters faced barriers to scheduling an appointment. Rural communities were associated with appointment acceptance for patients with Medicaid (P < .05), and patients with private insurance had successful appointment scheduling in all community types (P < .05).”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “This study suggests that patients with Medicaid are less likely to receive orthopaedic care for multiple sports medicine injuries, are more likely to encounter barriers, and endure longer waiting periods. There are different patterns of insurance acceptance according to population metrics. Clinical Relevance: Serves as a baseline evaluation of the difference in access to health care that may be impacted by increases in Medicaid coverage and/or changes in government policies.”

For more information on this research see: Differences in Access to Outpatient Care in the State of Ohio for an Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Patient. Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation, 2021,3(1):e1-e5. The publisher for Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation is Elsevier.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asmr.2020.07.015.

Our news journalists report that more information may be obtained by contacting M.D. Robert N. Matar, Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A. Additional authors for this research include B.A. Colin D.F. Cotton, Violet T. Schramm, B.S. Nihar S. Shah, M.D. Brian M. Grawe.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)