Causal analysis of the impact of homecare services on patient discharge disposition

Home Health Care Serv Q. 2019 Jul-Sep;38(3):162-181. doi: 10.1080/01621424.2019.1617215. Epub 2019 May 24.

Abstract

This study uses observational causal inference to evaluate the impact of different combinations of home care services (nursing, therapies, social work, home aides) on end-of-episode disposition for individuals with chronic diseases associated with the circulatory, endocrine, and musculoskeletal systems. The potential to generate actionable recommendations for personalizing home care services, or treatment plans, from limited clinical and care needs data is demonstrated. For patients with chronic disease in the circulatory or musculoskeletal systems, a 2.91% and 3.38% decrease, respectively, in acute care hospitalization rates could be obtained by providing patients with therapy and nursing services, rather than therapy services alone.

Keywords: Quality of care/evaluation of services; causal inference modeling; chronic disease; placementtransferand discharge; policies/policy analysis; service delivery/utilization.

Publication types

  • Observational Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Chronic Disease / nursing*
  • Endocrine System Diseases / nursing*
  • Female
  • Home Care Services / statistics & numerical data*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Musculoskeletal Diseases / nursing*
  • Patient Discharge / statistics & numerical data*
  • Root Cause Analysis / statistics & numerical data*
  • Shock / nursing*
  • United States