Patterns of Healthcare Services Among Children With Advanced Cancer in Concurrent Hospice Care.
Radion Svynarenko, Lisa C Lindley, Kim Mooney-Doyle and 3 others
PMID 35175949WHAT IT FOUND
Children with advanced cancer in concurrent hospice care used 140 non-hospice services per child.
They fell into moderate- and high-intensity groups; high-intensity children had more comorbidities, mental/behavioral conditions, and technology dependence.
Key findings
01Children with advanced cancer in concurrent hospice care used 120,388 non-hospice services, equivalent to 140 services per child.
02The children clustered into two service-use groups: 508 children in a moderate-intensity group and 354 children in a high-intensity group.
03The high-intensity group had patterns that included 12 services and was more likely to have comorbidities, mental/behavioral conditions, and technology dependence.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used Medicaid claims data only, so it did not include children with private health insurance. The data were from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2013, the first three years of the ACA concurrent hospice provision, and there was a delay before the data were analyzed. Cancer diagnoses were grouped into broad categories, and rare cancers could not be reported because small frequencies were limited by the CMS data agreement. The study described service-use patterns and did not measure clinical outcomes, so it does not show whether any pattern improved patient outcomes. The study did not explain why children used the services.
Declared interests
The authors state that they have no funding or conflicts of interest to declare.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the high-intensity group's 12-service pattern as evidence that more services improve care. The study only described Medicaid claims patterns and did not measure patient outcomes.