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Suboptimal Use of Inpatient Palliative Care Consultation May Lead to Higher Readmissions and Costs in End-Stage Liver Disease.

ABSTRACT: Background/Aims: Patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) have a high risk for readmission. We studied the role of palliative care consultation (PCC) in ESLD-related readmissions with a focus on health care resource utilization in the United States. Methods: We performed a retrospective longitudinal analysis on patients surviving hospitalizations with ESLD from January 2010 to September 2014 utilizing the Nationwide Readmissions Database with a 90-day follow-up after discharge. We analyzed annual trends in PCC among patients with ESLD. We matched PCC to no-PCC (1:1) using propensity scores to create a pseudorandomized clinical study. We estimated the impact of PCC on readmission rates (30- and 90-day), and length of stay (LOS) and cost during subsequent readmissions. Results: Of the 67,480 hospitalizations with ESLD, 3485 (5.3%) received PCC, with an annual increase from 3.6% to 6.7% (p for trend <0.01). The average 30- and 90-day annual readmission rates were 36.2% and 54.6%, respectively. PCC resulted in a lower risk for 30- and 90-day readmissions (hazard ratio: 0.42, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.38-0.47 and 0.38, 95% CI: 0.34-0.42, respectively). On subsequent 30- and 90-day readmissions, PCC was associated with decreased LOS (5.6- vs. 7.4 days and 5.7- vs. 6.9 days, p?p?Conclusion: Inpatient utilization of PCC for ESLD is increasing annually, yet still remains low in the United States. More importantly, PCC was associated with a decline in readmission rates resulting in a lower burden on health care resource utilization and improvement in cost savings during subsequent readmissions.

SUBMITTER: Adejumo AC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6931914 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Suboptimal Use of Inpatient Palliative Care Consultation May Lead to Higher Readmissions and Costs in End-Stage Liver Disease.

Adejumo Adeyinka Charles AC Kim Donghee D Iqbal Umair U Yoo Eric R ER Boursiquot Brian C BC Cholankeril George G Wong Robert J RJ Kwo Paul Y PY Ahmed Aijaz A

Journal of palliative medicine 20190809 1

Background/Aims: Patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) have a high risk for readmission. We studied the role of palliative care consultation (PCC) in ESLD-related readmissions with a focus on health care resource utilization in the United States. Methods: We performed a retrospective longitudinal analysis on patients surviving hospitalizations with ESLD from January 2010 to September 2014 utilizing the Nationwide Readmissions Database with a 90-day follow-up af ...[more]

PMID: 31397615

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Project description:BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have mandated reducing early (30-day) hospital readmissions to improve patient care and reduce costs. Patients with ESKD have elevated early readmission rates, due in part to complex medical regimens but also cognitive impairment, literacy difficulties, low social support, and mood problems. We developed a brief family consultation intervention to address these risk factors and tested whether it would reduce early readmissions. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS:One hundred twenty hospitalized adults with ESKD (mean age=58 years; 50% men; 86% black, 14% white) were recruited from an urban, inpatient nephrology unit. Patients were randomized to the family consultation (n=60) or treatment-as-usual control (n=60) condition. Family consultations, conducted before discharge at bedside or via telephone, educated the family about the patient's cognitive and behavioral risk factors for readmission, particularly cognitive impairment, and how to compensate for them. Blinded medical record reviews were conducted 30 days later to determine readmission status (primary outcome) and any hospital return visit (readmission, emergency department, or observation; secondary outcome). Logistic regressions tested the effects of the consultation versus control on these outcomes. RESULTS:Primary analyses were intent-to-treat. The risk of a 30-day readmission after family consultation (n=12, 20%) was 0.54 compared with treatment-as-usual controls (n=19, 32%), although this effect was not statistically significant (odds ratio, 0.54; 95% confidence interval, 0.23 to 1.24; P=0.15). A similar magnitude, nonsignificant result was observed for any 30-day hospital return visit: family consultation (n=19, 32%) versus controls (n=28, 47%; odds ratio, 0.53; 95% confidence interval, 0.25 to 1.1; P=0.09). Per protocol analyses (excluding three patients who did not receive the assigned consultation) revealed similar results. CONCLUSIONS:A brief consultation with family members about the patient's cognitive and psychosocial risk factors had no significant effect on 30-day hospital readmission in patients with ESKD.

Project description:Background and objectivesPalliative care may improve quality of life and reduce the cost of care for patients with chronic illness, but utilization and cost implications of palliative care in ESKD have not been evaluated. We sought to determine the association of inpatient palliative care with health care utilization and postdischarge outcomes in ESKD.Design, setting, participants, & measurementsIn analyses stratified by whether patients died during the index hospitalization, we identified Medicare beneficiaries with ESKD who received inpatient palliative care, ascertained by provider specialty codes, between 2012 and 2013. These patients were matched to hospitalized patients who received usual care using propensity scores. Primary outcomes were length of stay and hospitalization costs. Secondary outcomes were 30-day readmission and hospice enrollment.ResultsInpatient palliative care occurred in <1% of hospitalizations lasting >2 days. Among the decedent cohort (n=1308), inpatient palliative care was associated with a 21% shorter length of stay (-4.2 days; 95% confidence interval, -5.6 to -2.9 days) and 14% lower hospitalization costs (-$10,698; 95% confidence interval, -$17,553 to -$3843) compared with usual care. Among the nondecedent cohort (n=5024), inpatient palliative care was associated with no difference in length of stay (0.4 days; 95% confidence interval, -0.3 to 1.0 days) and 11% higher hospitalization costs ($4275; 95% confidence interval, $1984 to $6567) compared with usual care. In the 30-day postdischarge period, patients who received inpatient palliative care had higher likelihood of hospice enrollment (hazard ratio, 8.3; 95% confidence interval, 6.6 to 10.5) and lower likelihood of rehospitalization (hazard ratio, 0.8; 95% confidence interval, 0.7 to 0.9).ConclusionsAmong patients with ESKD who died in the hospital, inpatient palliative care was associated with shorter hospitalizations and lower costs. Among those who survived to discharge, inpatient palliative care was associated with no difference in length of stay and higher hospitalization costs but markedly higher hospice use and fewer readmissions after discharge.

Project description:Background/aimsThe use and costs of health care rise substantially in the months prior to death, and although the use of palliative care services may be expected to lead to less costly care, the evidence is mixed. We analysed the costs of care over the last year of life and the extent to which these are associated with the use and duration of specialist palliative care (SPC) for decedents who died from cancer or another life-limiting illness.MethodsThe decedents were participants in a cohort study of older residents of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Using linked survey and administrative health data from 2007 to 2016, two cohorts were identified: n = 10,535 where the cause of death was cancer; and n = 11,179 where the cause of death was another life-limiting illness. Costs of various types were analysed with separate risk-adjusted linear regression models for the last 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months before death and for both cohorts. SPC was categorised according to time to death from first contact with the service as 1-7 days, 7-30 days, 30-180 days and more than 180 days.ResultsSPC use was higher among the cancer cohort (30.0%) relative to the non-cancer cohort (4.8%). The mean costs over the final year of life were AU$55,037 (SD 45,059) for the cancer cohort and AU$35,318 (SD 41,948) for the non-cancer cohort. Earlier use of SPC was associated with higher costs over the last year of life but lower costs in the last 1 and 3 months for both cohorts. Initiating SPC use more than 180 days before death was associated with a mean difference relative to the no SPC group of AU$15,590 (95% CI 10,617 to 20,562) and AU$13,739 (95% CI 733 to 26,746) over the last year of life for those dying from cancer and another illness, respectively. The same differences over the last month of life were - AU$2810 (95% CI - 3945 to - 1676) and - AU$4345 (95% CI - 6625 to - 2066). Admitted hospital care was the major driver of costs, with longer SPC associated with lower rates of death in hospital for both cohorts.ConclusionEarly initiation of SPC was associated with higher costs over the last year of life and lower costs over the last months of life. This was the case for both the cancer and non-cancer cohorts, and appeared to be largely attributed to reduced hospitalisation. Although further investigation is required, our results suggest that expanding the availability of SPC services to provide more equitable access could enable patients to spend more time at their usual place of residence, reduce pressure on inpatient services and facilitate death at home when that is preferred.

Project description:ObjectiveTo assess the association of Private, Medicare, and Medicaid/Uninsured insurance type with 30-day Emergency Department visits/Observation Stays (EDOS), readmissions, and costs in a safety-net hospital (SNH) serving diverse socioeconomic status patients.Summary background dataMedicare's Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP) disproportionately penalizes SNHs.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study used inpatient National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (2013-2019) data merged with cost data. Frailty, expanded Operative Stress Score, case status, and insurance type were used to predict odds of EDOS and readmissions, as well as index hospitalization costs.ResultsThe cohort had 1,477 Private; 1,164 Medicare; and 3,488 Medicaid/Uninsured cases with a patient mean age 52.1 years [SD=14.7] and 46.8% of the cases were performed on male patients. Medicaid/Uninsured (aOR=2.69, CI=2.38-3.05, P<.001) and Medicare (aOR=1.32, CI=1.11-1.56, P=.001) had increased odds of urgent/emergent surgeries and complications versus Private patients. Despite having similar frailty distributions, Medicaid/Uninsured compared to Private patients had higher odds of EDOS (aOR=1.71, CI=1.39-2.11, P<.001), and readmissions (aOR=1.35, CI=1.11-1.65, P=.004), after adjusting for frailty, OSS, and case status, while Medicare patients had similar odds of EDOS and readmissions versus Private. Hospitalization variable cost %change was increased for Medicare (12.5%) and Medicaid/Uninsured (5.9%), but Medicaid/Uninsured was similar to Private after adjusting for urgent/emergent cases.ConclusionsIncreased rates and odds of urgent/emergent cases in Medicaid/Uninsured patients drive increased odds of complications and index hospitalization costs versus Private. SNHs care for higher cost populations while receiving lower reimbursements and are further penalized by the unintended consequences of HRRP. Increasing access to care, especially for Medicaid/Uninsured patients, could reduce urgent/emergent surgeries resulting in fewer complications, EDOS/readmissions, and costs.

Dataset Information

Suboptimal Use of Inpatient Palliative Care Consultation May Lead to Higher Readmissions and Costs in End-Stage Liver Disease.

Publications

Suboptimal Use of Inpatient Palliative Care Consultation May Lead to Higher Readmissions and Costs in End-Stage Liver Disease.

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