Sociodemographic Characteristics and Lengths of Stay Associated With Acute Palliative Care: A 10-Year National Perspective

Abstract

Patient demographics and characteristics are essential components associated with length of stay in hospice. Race, age, gender, health insurance status, income level, and location of hospice care services are indicators that are associated with differing lengths of stay. Hospice care demand is on the rise, and with 70 million boomers retiring in the next few decades, demand is expected to increase. It is because of demand that exploring the factors that affect a patient’s length of stay is essential for understanding beneficiary care and family experience. These insights are key for medical and clinical practitioners in providing hospice patients and their families with the intended benefits and care of the Medicare Hospice Program. This study uses Medicare hospice services data from 2006 to 2014 to examine how race, age, gender, health insurance status, income level, and location before entering acute care are associated with acute care lengths of stay. Overall, this study found that race, age, gender, health insurance status, and income level have a statistically significant association with whether a patient was from home-based or from facility-based hospice. These findings suggest that racial disparities remain a relevant matter in access to hospice, palliative care, and length of stay and can assist future research in moving knowledge forward about the association between length of stay and patient characteristics.