• Susan C Miller, Julie C Lima, Orna Intrator, Edward Martin, Janet Bull, and Laura C Hanson.
• Department of Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA; Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. Electronic address: susan_miller@brown.edu.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2017 Jul 1; 54 (1): 9-16.e5.

ContextU.S. nursing home (NH) residents with dementia have limited access to specialty palliative care beyond Medicare hospice.ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to examine the value of expanded palliative care access for NH residents with moderate-to-very severe dementia.MethodsWe merged palliative care consultation data in 31 NHs in two states to Medicare data to identify residents with consultations, moderate-to-very severe dementia, and deaths in 2006-2010. Initial palliative consultations were identified as occurring later and earlier (1-30 days and 31-180 days before death, respectively). Three controls for each consultation recipient were selected using propensity score matching. Weighted multivariate analyses evaluated the effect of consultations on hospital or acute care use seven and 30 days before death and on (potentially) burdensome transitions (i.e., hospital or hospice admission three days before death or two plus acute care transitions 30 days before death).ResultsWith earlier consultation (vs. no consultation), hospitalization rates in the seven days before death were on average 13.2 percentage points lower (95% confidence interval [CI] -21.8%, -4.7%) and with later consultation 5.9 percentage points lower (95% CI -13.7%, +4.9%). For earlier consultations (vs. no consultations), rates were 18.4 percentage points lower (95% CI -28.5%, -8.4%) for hospitalizations and 11.9 lower (95% CI -20.7%, -3.1%) for emergency room visits 30 days before death; they were 20.2 percentage points lower (95% CI -28.5%, -12.0%) for burdensome transitions.ConclusionConsultations appear to reduce acute care use and (potentially) burdensome transitions for dying residents with dementia. Reductions were greater when consultations were earlier.Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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