Early Primary Care Follow-Up Linked to Lower Acute Care Use After Pediatric ICU

A study in Pediatrics examined whether early primary care follow-up after pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) hospitalization was associated with subsequent acute care use. Researchers used claims data from January 2016 through December 2019, covering 180,516 PICU hospitalizations: 158,544 among publicly insured children and 21,972 among privately insured children. Children with and without follow-up within seven days of hospital discharge were matched 1:1 on demographic and clinical characteristics. The outcome was the number of emergency department or rehospitalization days during days 8–90 after discharge.

Acute care use occurred after 35.4% of publicly insured and 23.5% of privately insured hospitalizations. Early follow-up was associated with fewer acute care days in both groups: incidence rate ratio 0.93 (95% CI, 0.90–0.96) for public insurance and 0.70 (95% CI, 0.63–0.77) for private insurance; both P < .001. Subgroup analyses suggested larger reductions among older children and children with sepsis. The association persisted in a secondary analysis using 2022–2023 data.

The findings support consideration of early primary care follow-up after pediatric critical illness. However, this observational association does not establish that follow-up itself reduced acute care use, and residual confounding remains possible despite matching. Only the abstract was available for assessment.