National hospital care survey demonstration projects: Examination of maternal health outcomes by housing assistance status

Objectives: This report demonstrates the use of linked National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS) and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) administrative data to examine demographic characteristics and maternal health outcomes among both patients who received and did not receive housing assistance.

Methods: Administrative claims data and electronic health records data from the 2016 NHCS were linked to 2015-2017 HUD administrative data using patient identifiers. HUD administrative data for Housing Choice Voucher, Public Housing, and Multifamily housing program participation were used to identify patients who received housing assistance before, during, or after their delivery hospitalization. Exploratory analyses were conducted for patients who had a delivery hospitalization in 2016 and were eligible for linkage to HUD administrative data. Demographic characteristics and maternal health outcomes were compared by housing assistance status. The linked NHCS-HUD data are unweighted and not nationally representative.

Results: In the 2016 NHCS, 146,672 patients had a delivery hospitalization and were eligible for linkage to 2015-2017 HUD administrative data (95.6% had a live birth, 1.0% had a stillbirth, and 3.4% were unspecified). Among this study population, 9,559 patients (6.5%) received housing assistance from 2015 to 2017. Among those who received housing assistance, 66.5% visited large metropolitan hospitals, 71.8% were insured by Medicaid, and 3.0% experienced severe maternal morbidity. Among patients who did not receive housing assistance, 74.0% visited large metropolitan hospitals, 35.6% were insured by Medicaid, and 1.9% experienced severe maternal morbidity. Nearly two-thirds of patients who received housing assistance from 2015 to 2017 were receiving housing assistance at the time of their delivery hospitalization (63.6%).

Conclusion: Although these findings are not nationally representative, this report illustrates how linked NHCS-HUD data may provide insight into maternal health outcomes of patients who received housing assistance compared with those who did not.