Relationship between staff perceptions of hospital norms and hospital-level end-of-life treatment intensity.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There are wide variations in hospital-level treatment intensity at the end of life that are not entirely explained by structural and market characteristics. Individual hospital microclimates must exist to perpetuate these practice variations.

Objectives

To determine whether a closed-ended survey based upon staff perceptions of informal norms regarding life prolongation, palliation, collaborative decision-making, and patient-doctor familiarity can identify hospital microclimates and to assess whether these norms are related to variation in end-of-life treatment intensity.

Design, participants, and measurements

Retrospective analysis of hospital discharge data at 11 purposively sampled Pennsylvania hospitals linked to a self-administered survey of 139 adminis

SUBMITTER: Barnato AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2880574 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature