Characteristics of unplanned index hospital admissions
| Characteristic | No. (%) of total patients with index hospital admission* | ASD† | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High-cost users | Non–high-cost users | ||
| No. of patients with index hospital admission (% of total population) | 133 895 (76.1) | 10 770 (2.0) | – |
| Unplanned index hospital admission | 95 375 (71.2) | 8838 (82.1) | – |
| Acute length of stay, d, mean ± SD | 7.52 ± 8.71 | 2.91 ± 2.16 | 0.73 |
| Alternate level of care status | 19 915 (20.9) | 149 (1.7) | 0.64 |
| Days spent in alternate level of care, mean ± SD† | 2.97 ± 12.72 | 0.06 ± 0.72 | 0.32 |
| Discharge disposition | |||
| Inpatient hospital care | 6281 (6.6) | 47 (0.5) | 0.33 |
| Long-term or continuing care facility | 15 636 (16.4) | 70 (0.8) | 0.58 |
| Home with support‡ | 23 832 (25.0) | 1097 (12.4) | 0.33 |
| Home | 43 000 (45.1) | 6293 (71.2) | 0.55 |
| Death before discharge | 5378 (5.6) | 1226 (13.9) | 0.25 |
| Other§ | 1248 (1.3) | 105 (1.2) | 0.02 |
| Days spent in hospital before death, mean ± SD | 16.12 ± 20.09 | 2.32 ± 1.85 | 0.97 |
| Admitted to teaching care facility | 25 609 (26.8) | 2097 (23.7) | 0.07 |
| Admitted to acute care facility outside health district | 10 392 (10.9) | 770 (8.7) | 0.07 |
Note: ASD = absolute standardized difference, SD = standard deviation.
↵* Except where noted otherwise.
↵† A value greater than 0.1 indicates a meaningful difference between the cohorts.
↵‡ Support options included retirement lodge, attendant care, home care, Meals on Wheels, homemaking and supportive housing.
↵§ Includes transfer to other ambulatory care, palliative care/hospice, addiction treatment centre or jail, and those who signed out against medical advice.