Transferring terminally ill patients from the intensive care unit to dedicated hospice care units may result in lower ICU bed days and overall costs, according to a study in Critical Care Medicine.
Researchers studied the charts of ICU and dedicated hospice inpatient unit deaths at two university hospitals over six months. They identified transfer patients and missed opportunities, patients who were admitted to the hospital for more than 48 hours and had adopted a comfort care course or had a planned termination of life-sustaining therapy.
Researchers identified 167 transfers and 99 missed opportunities. Compared to missed opportunities, transferred patients were older (66.9 years old vs. 60.4 years old), less likely to use mechanical ventilation (71.9 percent versus 90.9 percent) and less likely to receive palliative care consult (43.4 percent versus 70.4 percent).
Researchers concluded transfers saved 585 ICU bed days, and dedicated hospice inpatient units are a feasible, cost-effective way to care for terminally ill ICU patients.
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