State and national estimates of the cost of Emergency Department pediatric readiness and lives saved (1 November 2024)

Summary

High emergency department (ED) paediatric readiness is associated with improved survival among children receiving emergency care, but state and national costs to reach high ED readiness and the resulting number of lives that may be saved are unknown.

This study from Newgard et al. estimated the state and national annual costs of raising all EDs to high paediatric readiness and the resulting number of paediatric lives that may be saved each year.

The study of 4840 EDs across the US, found that 842 (17.4%) had high paediatric readiness and the annual cost to reach high paediatric readiness was $207 335 302, ranging from $0 to $11.84 per child by state. An estimated 2143 paediatric lives may be saved each year through universal high ED paediatric readiness.

These results suggest that raising all EDs to high paediatric readiness would potentially save thousands of paediatric lives each year, with modest financial investment.