July 10, 2026 Newswires

Nassau University Medical Center Researchers Provide New Study Findings on Health and Medicine (Health insurance payor type and care deviations in patients with trauma with lower extremity fractures): Health and Medicine

Health Policy and Law Daily

2026 JUL 10 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- Fresh data on agriculture are presented in a new report. According to news reporting from East Meadow, New York, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Lower extremity fractures result in significant morbidity and mortality, with rehabilitation therapy after injury essential to improving outcomes. Understanding how health insurance coverage may act as a benefit or barrier in accessing postacute services is limited.”

Our news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Nassau University Medical Center: “We sought to determine the association of insurance payor type with access to facility-based rehabilitation after sustaining lower extremity fractures and assess for care deviations between qualified provider recommendations and discharge destination. A retrospective, cross-sectional study was performed at an American College of Surgeons-verified level 1 trauma center and stratified 2570 patients with lower extremity fractures by health insurance payor type (2016-2022). Care deviation was evaluated as discrepancy of final discharge destination from Physical Therapist and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation physician recommendations. Traditional and managed Medicare patients were demographically similar and frequently discharged to facility-based rehabilitation (90.5%, 87.7%). Managed Medicare patients were less likely to be discharged to acute rehab (23.6% vs 55.8%) with frequent care deviations from discharge recommendations when compared with traditional Medicare (K=0.40, CI (0.34 to 0.47), K=0.76, CI (0.72 to 0.80)). Medicaid, managed Medicaid, self-pay and privately insured patients were less likely to be discharged to any facility (7.0% to 30.4%), with varying care deviations from discharge recommendations. All payor types were independently predictive of a decreased likelihood of facility-based rehabilitation and higher likelihood of care deviation when compared with traditional Medicare. Managed Medicare was independently predictive of a lower likelihood of discharge to acute rehabilitation (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.72, p=0.0008). Patients who sustain lower extremity fractures have highest rates of access to postacute services when covered by traditional Medicare.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Frequent care deviation from rehabilitation recommendations in commercially administered insurance programs, especially in managed Medicare, highlights the powerful influence of insurance on adherence with clinician-directed care. Level of Evidence This study meets level III evidence criteria.”

For more information on this research see: Health insurance payor type and care deviations in patients with trauma with lower extremity fractures. Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open, 2026,11(3). (Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open - http://tsaco.bmj.com/). The publisher for Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open is BMJ Publishing Group.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1136/tsaco-2025-001939.

Our news editors report that more information may be obtained by contacting Elisa Szydziak, Surgery, Nassau University Medical Center, East Meadow, New York, United States. Additional authors for this research include Andrew R Doben, Elizabeth Swezey, Anna Jinnah, Misha Chowdhary, Emmanuel Onabolu, Samuel Novick, Naib Chowdhury, Lambros George Angus, Vishes Mehta.