Cargando…

Costs and Characteristics of Undocumented Immigrants Brought to a Trauma Center by Border Patrol Agents in Southern Texas

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to evaluate the costs, characteristics, and outcomes of patients brought to a Texas trauma center emergenct department after apprehension by Border Patrol (BP)/Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BP/ICE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a secondary analysi...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kane, Evan, Richman, Peter B., Xu, K. Tom, Krall, Scott, Blow, Osbert
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Wolters Kluwer - Medknow 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6496986/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31057285
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/JETS.JETS_29_18
Descripción
Sumario:BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to evaluate the costs, characteristics, and outcomes of patients brought to a Texas trauma center emergenct department after apprehension by Border Patrol (BP)/Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BP/ICE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of a trauma registry/financial records (1/1/11-12/31/14). Data were extracted utilizing a structured form. A multivariate ordinary least square was estimated to identify variables associated with hospital charges. RESULTS: A total of 128 patients were enrolled as the study group; mean age was 28.6 ± 6 years, 20.3% were female, 100% were Hispanic, the most common mechanism of injury (MOI) was motor vehicle crash (75%), and mean charge was $162,152 ± $295,441. Mean length of stay (LOS) was 13.2 ± 29.8 days; 92.2% survived to discharge. Bivariate analysis revealed that MOI differed by gender (P = 0.021). In the multivariate analysis, the only variable that associated with increased charge was LOS. Total charges for the 128 patients were $20.6M, total costs were $4.5M, and total payments were $0.99M. CONCLUSIONS: Undocumented immigrants apprehended by BP/ICE and brought to our trauma center utilized significant health-care resources.