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...
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Published in | Journal of emergencies, trauma and shock Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 54 - 57 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
India
Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd
01.01.2019
Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd Wolters Kluwer - Medknow Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | 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. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0974-2700 0974-519X |
DOI: | 10.4103/JETS.JETS_29_18 |