End-of-Life Care Transition Patterns of Medicare Beneficiaries.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To characterize the patterns of transitions in care and factors associated with multiple transitions in the last 6 months of life of U.S. decedents (N = 660,132).

Design

Retrospective study.

Setting

United States.

Participants

Medicare beneficiaries aged 66 and older who died from July to December 2011.

Measurements

Transitions between healthcare settings (e.g., hospital, skilled nursing facility, inpatient hospice, home hospice, home without hospice) in the last 6 months of life. A count variable for number of transitions was summarized, and Sankey diagrams were produced to illustrate the sequences of healthcare transitions. Multivariable analyses were used to identify factors associated with likelihood of having four or more transitions.

SUBMITTER: Wang SY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5507734 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature