Outpatient orthopedic care in Louisiana is sparse for patients with Medicaid insurance, according to a study published in Journal of the National Medication Association.
Here are five insights:
1. Led by Christopher Marrero, MD, associate professor of orthopaedic surgery at Louisiana State University's Health New Orleans School of Medicine, the study explored how limited access to orthopedic care is for Medicaid patients in Louisiana despite Medicaid's expansion.
2. Using a list of potentially eligible orthopedic surgeons in Louisiana from the Louisiana Medicaid website, researchers focused on orthopedic surgeons who had received at least one Louisiana Medicaid payment between Aug. 1, 2016 and Jan. 31, 2017.
3. The database unveiled 309 orthopedic surgeons listed at 93 practices. Moving forward with the study, researchers called the 93 practices to schedule an appointment with an orthopedic provider.
4. Of the 93 practices included in the study, 17 practices, or 18.3 percent, offered an appointment to Medicaid patients.
5. The 17 practices that offered appointments to Medicaid patients represented 41 orthopedic surgeons, 13.3 percent of the state's orthopedic surgeon pool. The number of orthopedic surgeons in safety-net facilities offering to treat Medicaid patients dropped to 22.
"The results suggest that although Medicaid expansion has decreased the uninsured rate, access to outpatient orthopedic care for Medicaid patients in Louisiana is still significantly limited," study authors concluded.