Comparison of perinatal outcomes among TennCare managed care organizations.
OBJECTIVE
To compare perinatal outcomes among the managed care organizations (MCOs) providing care to beneficiaries enrolled in TennCare, Tennessee's capitated Medicaid managed care program.


METHODS
Retrospective cohort analysis.


METHODS
Infants born in Tennessee during 1995 to women enrolled in TennCare.


METHODS
Prenatal care use, birth weight (BW), death in the first 60 days of life, and delivery of extremely low BW (<1000 g) infants in hospitals without level 3 neonatal intensive care units.


RESULTS
During 1995, 34 402 infants were born to mothers enrolled in TennCare. The MCOs differed widely in the demographic characteristics of their enrollees. In addition, there were small differences in prenatal care utilization, but no differences in BW outcomes among the MCOs. In multivariate analysis, however, infants born to women enrolled in 1 MCO were 2.8 times more likely to die in the first 60 days of life than were infants born to women enrolled in the largest MCO (OR: 2.81; 95% CI: 1.31-6.03). Women enrolled in this same MCO seemed to have a higher proportion of extremely low BW (<1000 g) infants delivering in a hospital lacking a level 3 neonatal intensive care unit (38% vs 20% in the largest MCO).


CONCLUSIONS
The differences among MCOs in early infant death and in the delivery of high-risk infants in hospitals lacking appropriate neonatal facilities suggest that monitoring of care delivery to vulnerable children should include assessment of appropriate use of specialized services.
Cooper
W O
WO
Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. william.cooper@mcmail.vanderbilt.edu
Hickson
G B
GB
Mitchel
E F
EF
Ray
W A
WA
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013221:State Health Plans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013714:Tennessee; D014481:United States