Transitioning from pediatric to adult healthcare providers can be difficult for people with epilepsy. Although we know a few ways to make this process smoother for patients with epilepsy, little research has been done in this area, and these strategies are not often used by providers. It is not known how transition impacts how often patients go to the emergency department or are hospitalized for their epilepsy and how much this costs the patients and the healthcare system. Learning more about the costs and healthcare visits of people with epilepsy would provide justification for providing better care during transition for people with epilepsy and help to reduce healthcare costs. This project will examine the healthcare visits and costs of teens and young adults transitioning to adult epilepsy care. Patients in this study are from rural North Carolina, who often have trouble accessing care. The project has three goals: 1) to compare the number of healthcare visits before and after transition to adult care, 2) identify what makes it more likely for a patient to go to the hospital or emergency room during transition, and 3) describe how much the transition process costs. This project will improve our understanding of how transition affects both patients with epilepsy and the larger healthcare system. This project will help researchers learn information needed for helping patients during transition and for doing future research that will improve care for patients with epilepsy.
