scholarly journals Timing of Inpatient Pediatric Palliative Care Services and Hospital Length of Stay (S803)

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 467-468
Author(s):  
Cady Berkel ◽  
Tressia Shaw
2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke Worster ◽  
Declan Kennedy Bell ◽  
Vibin Roy ◽  
Amy Cunningham ◽  
Marianna LaNoue ◽  
...  

Background: Palliative care is associated with significant benefits, including reduced pain and suffering, an increased likelihood of patients dying in their preferred location, and decreased health-care expenditures. Racial and ethnic disparities are well-documented in hospice use and referral patterns; however, it is unclear whether these disparities apply to inpatient palliative care services. Objective: To determine if race is a significant predictor of time to inpatient palliative care consult, patient enrollment in hospice, and patients’ overall hospital length of stay among patients of an inpatient palliative care service. Design: Retrospective noncomparative analysis. Setting: Urban academic medical center in the United States. Patients: 3207 patients referred to an inpatient palliative care service between March 2006 and April 2015. Measurements: Time to palliative care consult, disposition of hospice/not hospice (excluding patients who died), and hospital length of stay among patients by racial (Asian, black, Native American/Eskimo, Hispanic, white, Unknown) and ethnic (Hispanic/Latino, non-Hispanic, Unknown) background. Results: Race was not a significant predictor of time to inpatient palliative care consult, discharge to hospice, or hospital length of stay. Similarly, black/white, Hispanic/white, and Asian/white variables were not significant predictors of hospice enrollment ( Ps > .05). Limitations: Study was conducted at 1 urban academic medical center, limiting generalizability; hospital race and ethnicity categorizations may also limit interpretation of results. Conclusions: In this urban hospital, race was not a predictor of time to inpatient palliative care service consult, discharge to hospice, or hospital length of stay. Confirmatory studies of inpatient palliative care services in other institutions are needed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 196-200
Author(s):  
Saad Akhtar ◽  
Vamshek Srinivasan ◽  
Carol Weisse ◽  
Phil DiSorbo

Background: The holistic and multidisciplinary approach of in-home palliative care (IHPC) is known to offer high-quality and cost-effective care for patients at the end of life. However, the financial benefits of upstream IHPC programs to hospitals, patients, and payers have not been fully characterized for patients with comorbid chronic conditions. Aim: To characterize the financial benefits that upstream IHPC offers to patients with multiple chronic conditions. Methods: A structured retrospective patient record review was conducted on the number of emergency department (ED) visits, number of inpatient hospitalizations, hospital length of stay (LOS), and payments made to the hospital for all patients (N = 71) enrolled in an IHPC program between January 1, 2016, and June 30, 2016. Discharge history from each patient’s medical record was also assessed. Comparisons were drawn between patients’ LOS on IHPC and an equivalent time period prior to enrollment in IHPC. Results: After patients enrolled in IHPC, average ED and inpatient utilization declined significantly by 41% ( P = .01) and 71% ( P < .001), respectively. The payers for health-care services realized a significant decline of US$2,201 ( P < .001) in hospital payments per patient per month. Inpatient LOS was also significantly lower than expected once patients enrolled in the program ( P = .01). Conclusions: As the need for chronic disease management continues to grow, managers of health systems, managed care organizations, and home health agencies should be cognizant of the financial value that IHPC has to offer.


2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 9592-9592
Author(s):  
A. H. Kamal ◽  
K. M. Swetz ◽  
H. Liu ◽  
S. R. Ruegg ◽  
E. C. Carey ◽  
...  

9592 Background: Palliative care (PC) is an essential part of the continuum of care for cancer (CA) patients (pts). Little is known about the aggregate characteristics and survival of pts receiving inpatient palliative care consultation (PCC). Methods: We reviewed data prospectively collected on patients seen by the Palliative Care Inpatient Consult Service at Mayo Clinic - Rochester from 2003–2008. Demographics, consult characteristics, and survival were analyzed. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and a Cox model of survival were produced. Results: 1794 total patients were seen over the five year period. Cancer is the most common primary diagnosis (47%). Growth in annual PCC has risen dramatically (113 in 2003 vs. 414 in 2007) despite stable total hospital admissions. Patient are predominantly men (52% vs. 48%, p=0.02); median age is 76. General medicine, medical cardiology, and medical intensive care unit services refer most often. Most frequent issues addressed are goals of care, dismissal planning, and pain control (29%, 19%, 17%). PCC in actively dying pts have increased with 27% of all non-operating room, non-trauma in-hospital deaths being seen. Although CA pts have the highest median survival after PCC vs. other diagnoses (17 days, p = 0.018), we observed a five-year trend of decreasing survival from admission to death and PCC to death. Median time from admission to death in CA pts is 36 days in 2003 and 19 days in 2008 (p<0.01). Median time from PCC to death is 33 versus 11.5 days (p<0.01). Despite this, median hospital length of stay and time from PCC to discharge have remained fixed at 8 and 2.5 days, respectively. A Cox model of survival to discharge and <6 months survival (hospice eligibility) shows hospital length of stay, time from consult to discharge, and dismissal location from hospital are all prognostic factors. Conclusions: Survival window for PC intervention for CA pts is lessening. With the trend of shorter survival after PCC, PC professionals have little over two days to implement a comprehensive, ongoing care plan. This highlights the importance of earlier outpatient palliative care involvement with advanced cancer patients and families. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (31_suppl) ◽  
pp. 165-165
Author(s):  
Ali John Zarrabi ◽  
Karen Armstrong ◽  
Kimberly A. Curseen ◽  
Tammie E. Quest

165 Background: Outpatient palliative care clinics (PCC) are a developing frontier of palliative medicine. Characterizing and promoting financially viable models for payment of services are imperative to the sustainability of PCC. There is a paucity of research addressing payer mix – meaning the breakdown of individuals and organizations that pay for a provider's services – in PCC or its impact on metrics important to quality in PC such as hospital length of stay (LOS) and hospital readmissions. We seek to describe the payer mix for our academic outpatient PC practice. Furthermore, we sought to identify if payer mix (commercial, government—Medicare, Medicaid – or self-pay) influenced hospital LOS, discharge to hospice, or readmissions. Methods: After obtaining IRB approval, we conducted a retrospective chart review of supportive oncology patients from 2014-2017 (n = 3137) using data restricted to ICD10 codes for solid tumors. We performed bivariate tests and multivariable logistic regressions to examine the main effects of length of stay (LOS), readmissions, insurance status, and discharge disposition using SAS version 9.4 (Cary, NC). Results: Payer mix included 711 (24%) commercial insurance enrollees, 2357 (75%) Medicare or Medicaid recipients, and 38 (1%) self-pay. Mean LOS was 12.7 days (SD 16.38). The majority (94%) of patients had more than 5 readmissions. Commercial insurance was associated with prolonged LOS ( > = 30 days), discharge disposition to hospice, and hospital readmissions ( > 5) compared to government insurance (p < 0.05). Of the 3137 patients, 325 (10%) expired, 1328 (42%) were discharged to hospice, while 1463 (47%) were discharged to rehab, skilled nursing facilities or home care. Conclusions: The majority of patients in our academic PCC had governmental insurance and were less likely than those with commercial insurance to have prolonged LOS, discharge to hospice, or hospital readmission. These findings provide evidence that further investigation is needed to examine the effect of payer mix on PCC and patient outcomes.


Children ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (7) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Chin ◽  
Tiina Jaaniste ◽  
Susan Trethewie

Siblings of children with life limiting conditions (LLC) are an important part of the broader family system and require consideration in the holistic care of the family. There can be considerable variation in the functioning and adjustment of these siblings. The current paper explores the resilience paradigm, particularly in the context of siblings of children with LLC and serious medical conditions. The potential impact of children living with a seriously ill brother or sister will be overviewed, and a range of functional outcomes considered. Factors contributing to sibling resilience are detailed, including individual, family, and broader external and social factors. Given the limited research with siblings of children with LLC, literature has also been drawn from the siblings of children with serious and/or chronic medical conditions. Implications for clinical practice and future research are considered. Pediatric palliative care services may be well placed to contribute to this body of research as they have commonly extended relationships with the families of children with LLC, which span across the child’s disease trajectory.


2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 1578-1589
Author(s):  
Grace M Yang ◽  
Siqin Zhou ◽  
Zhizhen Xu ◽  
Stella SL Goh ◽  
Xia Zhu ◽  
...  

Background: The benefit of specialist palliative care for cancer inpatients is established, but the best method to deliver specialist palliative care is unknown. Aim: To compare a consult model versus a co-rounding model; both provide the same content of specialist palliative care to individual patients but differ in the level of integration between palliative care and oncology clinicians. Design: An open-label, cluster-randomized trial with stepped-wedge design. The primary outcome was hospital length of stay; secondary outcomes were 30-day readmissions and access to specialist palliative care. ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT03330509. Setting/participants: Cancer patients admitted to the oncology inpatient service of an acute hospital in Singapore. Results: A total of 5681 admissions from December 2017 to July 2019 were included, of which 5295 involved stage 3-4 cancer and 1221 received specialist palliative care review. Admissions in the co-rounding model had a shorter hospital length of stay than those in the consult model by 0.70 days (95%CI −0.04 to 1.45, p = 0.065) for all admissions. In the sub-group of stage 3-4 cancer patients, the length of stay was 0.85 days shorter (95%CI 0.05–1.65, p = 0.038). In the sub-group of admissions that received specialist palliative care review, the length of stay was 2.62 days shorter (95%CI 0.63–4.61, p = 0.010). Hospital readmission within 30 days (OR1.03, 95%CI 0.79–1.35, p = 0.822) and access to specialist palliative care (OR1.19, 95%CI 0.90–1.58, p = 0.215) were similar between the consult and co-rounding models. Conclusions: The co-rounding model was associated with a shorter hospital length of stay. Readmissions within 30 days and access to specialist palliative care were similar.


2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
LeeAi Chong ◽  
Adina Abdullah

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the experience of community palliative care nurses providing home care to children. Method: A qualitative study was conducted at the 3 community palliative care provider organizations in greater Kuala Lumpur from August to October 2014. Data were collected with semistructured interviews with 16 nurses who have provided care to children and was analyzed using thematic analysis. Two categories were identified: (1) challenges nurses faced and (2) coping strategies. The themes identified from the categories are (1) communication challenges, (2) inadequate training and knowledge, (3) personal suffering, (4) challenges of the system, (5) intrapersonal coping skills, (6) interpersonal coping strategies, and (7) systemic supports. Conclusions: These results reinforces the need for integration of pediatric palliative care teaching and communication skills training into all undergraduate health care programs. Provider organizational support to meet the specific needs of the nurses in the community can help retain them in their role. It will also be important to develop standards for current and new palliative care services to ensure delivery of quality pediatric palliative care.


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