Article Figures & Tables
Figures
- Figure 1:
Mean matched-pair differences in health care costs by team and overall, between exposed and unexposed patients in the last 30 days of life (n = 3109). Note: Error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals.
- Figure 2:
Mean matched-pair differences in health care sectorial costs between exposed and unexposed patients in the last 30 days of life (n = 3109). Note: Error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals.
Tables
Team Date established Geographic area served No. decedents in FY 2009/10 and FY 2010/11 Median time on service, d Palliative care physicians, no. of FTE (funding source) Nurses, no. of FTE Other team members, no. of FTE 1 2009 Urban 830 40 1 (FFS) 8 2 2 2009 Suburban 221 53 3 (FFS) 3.5 5 3 2009 Suburban 144 38 1 (FFS) 1 0.6 4 2009 Suburban 125 40 1 (FFS) 2 1 5 2009 Suburban 105 36 0.5 (FFS) 1 0.2 6 2009 Rural 90 63 2 (APP) 2 1.2 7 1986 Urban 676 45 11.5 (APP) 1 5.9 8 2007 Suburban 497 49 2 (FFS and APP) 2 1 9 1998 Urban 775 38 1.3 (FFS) 3 1.7 10 2004 Rural 268 23 0.6 (APP) 1 2.5 11 1979 Rural 181 32 6 (FFS) 2 4.7 Note: APP = alternative payment plan (i.e., physician reimbursement is a combination of FFS and salary), FFS = fee-for-service (i.e., physicians bill for each aspect of care and service they provide according to a set price mechanism), FTE = full time equivalent, FY = fiscal year.
Characteristic Before propensity score matching After propensity score matching p value* Unexposed Exposed Unexposed Exposed No. of patients (pooled across the teams) 41 133 3912 3109 3109 Age at death, yr, median (IQR) 80 (69–87) 75 (64–84) 74 (63–83) 75 (64–84) NS Cancer diagnosis, no. (%) 14 443 (35.1) 3073 (78.6) 2481 (79.8) 2469 (79.4) 0.7 Female, no. (%) 20 895 (50.8) 2032 (51.9) 1609 (51.8) 1600 (51.5) 0.8 Adjusted Clinical Group comorbidity weighting, mean ± SD 5.12 ± 4.09 6.30 ± 4.04 6.21 ± 3.93 6.20 ± 3.98 NS Home care service type, no. (%) End of life 6208 (15.1) 3041 (77.7) 2409 (77.5) 2409 (77.5) 1.0 Long-term supportive 3408 (8.3) 210 (5.4) 145 (4.7) 145 (4.7) 1.0 Maintenance 7692 (18.7) 328 (8.4) 278 (8.9) 278 (8.9) 1.0 Rehab/acute care 6478 (15.7) 157 (4.0) 106 (3.4) 106 (3.4) 1.0 None 17 347 (42.2) 176 (4.5) 171 (5.5) 171 (5.5) 1.0 Time from first receipt of most severe home care service type to death, d, mean ± SD End of life 15.47 ± 56.48 86.18 ± 107.29 79.23 ± 102.02 79.32 ± 102.05 NS Long-term supportive 23.92 ± 81.17 31.00 ± 87.25 37.96 ± 95.92 27.84 ± 83.51 NS Maintenance 63.68 ± 124.80 82.02 ± 131.69 81.64 ± 131.06 83.55 ± 132.16 NS Rehab/acute care 69.70 ± 113.27 76.05 ± 113.98 79.29 ± 112.60 80.12 ± 114.96 NS No. of prior emergency department visits, mean ± SD 1.16 ± 2.10 1.43 ± 2.11 1.40 ± 1.95 1.36 ± 1.96 NS Prior length of stay in hospital, d, mean ± SD 7.18 ± 22.23 7.53 ± 17.09 6.84 ± 14.17 6.73 ± 14.85 NS No. of prior hospital visits, mean ± SD 0.56 ± 1.04 0.75 ± 1.14 0.76 ± 1.15 0.70 ± 1.07 NS Income quintile, no. (%) 1 (lowest) 10 288 (25.0) 668 (17.1) 772 (24.8) 536 (17.2) < 0.001 2 9053 (22.0) 746 (19.1) 703 (22.6) 605 (19.5) 0.003 3 7565 (18.4) 720 (18.4) 604 (19.4) 550 (17.7) 0.08 4 7460 (18.1) 872 (22.3) 585 (18.8) 675 (21.7) 0.005 5 (highest) 6555 (15.9) 906 (23.2) 437 (14.1) 743 (23.9) < 0.001 Note: IQR = interquartile range, NS = not significant, SD = standard deviation.
↵* For characteristics reported as means and medians it was not possible to calculate actual p values at the time of publication because the individual data were no longer accessible, for privacy reasons.
In this issue
Article tools
