Impact of United States 2017 Immigration Policy changes on missed appointments at two Massachusetts Safety-Net Hospitals

• Published in: Journal of immigrant and minority health Vol. 24; no. 4; pp. 807 - 818
• Main Authors: Jirmanus, Lara Z., Ranker, Lynsie, Touw, Sharon, Mahmood, Rumel, Kimball, Sarah L., Hanchate, Amresh, Lasser, Karen E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.08.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Changes; Chronic conditions; Chronic illnesses; Comparative Law; Confidence intervals; Diabetes; Electronic health records; Enforcement; Health care; Health services; Hospitals; Immigrants; Immigration; Immigration policy; Insurance; International & Foreign Law; Languages; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Non-English languages; Original Paper; Patients; Policy making; Primary care; Private International Law; Public Health; Race; Safety; Sociology; Fear; Massachusetts; Limited English proficiency; Immigration Policy; Missed appointments; Immigrants; Healthcare Access; Primary care
• ISSN: 1557-1912; 1557-1920
• DOI: 10.1007/s10903-022-01341-9

Introduction Studies have shown mixed findings regarding the impact of immigration policy changes on immigrants’ utilization of primary care. Methods We used a difference-in-differences analysis to compare changes in missed primary care appointments over time across two groups: patients who received care in Spanish, Portuguese, or Haitian Creole, and non-Hispanic, white patients who received care in English. Results After adjustment for age, sex, race, insurance, hospital system, and presence of chronic conditions, immigration policy changes were associated with an absolute increase in the missed appointment prevalence of 0.74 percentage points (95% confidence interval: 0.34, 1.15) among Spanish, Portuguese and Haitian-Creole speakers. We estimated that missed appointments due to immigration policy changes resulted in lost revenue of over $185,000. Conclusions We conclude that immigration policy changes were associated with a significant increase in missed appointments among patients who receive medical care in languages other than English.