Spending on Hospital Care and Pediatric Psychology Service Use Among Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer.

Objective: To examine the relationship between need-based pediatric psychology service use and spending on hospital care among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer. Methods: Billing data were obtained from 48 AYAs with cancer receiving need-based pediatric psychology services and a comparison cohort of 48 AYAs with cancer not receiving services. A factorial analysis of covariance examined group differences in spending for hospital care. Pending significant findings, a multivariate analysis of covariance was planned to examine the relationship between need-based pediatric psychology service use and spending for inpatient admissions, emergency department (ED) visits, and outpatient visits. Results: Spending for hospital care was higher among AYAs receiving need-based pediatric psychology services than in the comparison cohort (p < .001, ωPartial2 = .11). Group differences were driven by significantly higher spending for inpatient admissions and ED visits among AYAs receiving need-based pediatric psychology services. Conclusions: The behavioral and psychosocial difficulties warranting need-based pediatric psychology services may predict higher health care spending.