Estimated Time of Arrival: Impact of Healthcare Disparities on Access to and Outcomes of Multidisciplinary Cleft Lip and Palate Care.

Objective: To determine the impact of sociodemographic and clinical factors on patient presentation into the cleft care pathway and determine how delayed interventions may affect post-surgical outcomes.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: Multidisciplinary craniofacial clinics of two university hospitals.

Patients, participant: 135 patients with cleft lip and/or palate.

Interventions: Primary cheiloplasty, primary palatoplasty.

Main outcome measures: Age at initial presentation, age at first surgery, lag time, delayed surgery, rate of return to the emergency department (ED), readmission rate, reoperations, and oronasal fistula development.

Results: Patients referred by OBGYN who underwent cheiloplasty had an earlier age at initial presentation (p < 0.01), earlier age at first surgery (p = 0.01), and a shorter lag time (p < 0.01) compared to children from other referral pathways. African American children had an older age at first surgery (p = 0.01) and a longer lag time (p = 0.02) when compared to non-African American children. Children with syndromes had an older age at first surgery (p < 0.01) and a longer lag time (p < 0.01) than children without syndromes. Patient race, cleft type, and syndromic status increased the odds of receiving delayed surgery. Patients who received delayed palatoplasty returned to the ED at a higher rate than patients who received non-delayed palatoplasty (p = 0.02).

Conclusions: Our data suggest that referral source, race, and syndromic status influence the timeliness of cleft care. Surgeons should develop strong referral networks with local OBGYNs and hospitals to allow for an early entry into the cleft care pathway.