Association of Inpatient Palliative Care with Health Care Utilization and Postdischarge Outcomes among Medicare Beneficiaries with End Stage Kidney Disease.

ABSTRACT:

Background and objectives

Palliative 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, & measurements

In 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 hospita

SUBMITTER: Chettiar A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6086714 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature