Association Between Hospice Length of Stay, Health Care Utilization, and Medicare Costs at the End of Life Among Patients Who Received Maintenance Hemodialysis.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Patients with end-stage renal disease are less likely to use hospice services than other patients with advanced chronic illness. Little is known about the timing of hospice referral in this population and its association with health care utilization and costs.

Objective

To examine the association between hospice length of stay and health care utilization and costs at the end of life among Medicare beneficiaries who had received maintenance hemodialysis.

Design, setting, and participants

This cross-sectional observational study was conducted via the United States Renal Data System registry. Participants were all 770 191 hemodialysis patients in the registry who were enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare and died between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2014.

SUBMITTER: Wachterman MW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5988968 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature