OBJECTIVE: To determine the health care costs associated with pediatric @entity15 ( @entity15 ). METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of all @entity1 with @entity15 18 years of age or younger who were diagnosed or treated between 2002 and 2012 in a population-based cohort. Demographics and health care costs were extracted from the Intermountain Healthcare Enterprise Data Warehouse. @entity1 were divided into high-cost (>84th percentile) and low-cost groups and differences in health care utilization between the groups were analyzed. RESULTS: Fifty-seven pediatric @entity1 with @entity15 were identified. Health care costs for the cohort totaled more than  1.5 million over the 10-year period, with the top 16th percentile of @entity1 contributing nearly two-thirds. Outpatient visits represented the majority of health care encounters and expenditures, accounting for 83.1% of total costs. Costs per encounter were highest for inpatient stays, averaging  2,924 per stay. CONCLUSIONS: The burden of health care expenses for pediatric @entity1 with @entity15 is significant. Expenditures related to outpatient visits were the largest contributor to costs, but inpatient stays were the most costly per encounter. A small proportion of @entity1 incurred the bulk of costs and spent significantly more time receiving care compared to the majority of @entity1 . Avoidance of inpatient treatment and efficient outpatient management are potential areas for health care cost reduction and improvement in care.

Comprehensive population-based determination of pediatric XXXX health care costs.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'Patients'] @entity15 :: ('MESH:D009103', 'Disease') :: ['multiple sclerosis', 'MS']
@entity15 :: (MESH:D009103,Disease) :: ['multiple sclerosis']
