Table.
Characteristics of Hospices and Management Practices Relating to Implantable Defibrillators.1
| Ownership Type (%) | |
| For Profit | 25% |
| Not-for-Profit | 72% |
| Other | 2% |
| Unknown | 1% |
| Daily Census Mean (SE) | 116.5 (10.6) |
| Length of Stay in Days Mean (SE) | 62.3 (2.0) |
| Percent of Patients with Admitting Diagnosis of heart Disease Mean (SE) | 15.3 (0.6) |
| Facilities that will Admit Patients with Active ICDs2 | 97% (96, 99) [89-97%] |
| Number of Patients Hospice Admitted with an Active ICD in the Last Year | |
| 0 | 15% |
| 1-10 | 76% |
| 11-25 | 6% |
| 26-50 | 2% |
| 51-100 | 1% |
| >100 | 0% |
| Facilities with Question on Intake Form Asking if Patient Has ICD2 | 20% (16, 24) [19-21%] |
| Hospices with Written Policy for Deactivating ICDs2 | 10% (7, 13) [10-12%] |
| At Least One Patient at Hospice was Shocked2 | 58% (53, 64) [45-68%] |
| At Least One Patient at Hospice was Shocked Multiple Times2 | 40% (34, 47) [25-59%] |
| How are ICDs Deactivated?3 | |
| Patient Sent to Clinic | 34% |
| Member of hospice team turns off device | 14% |
| Non-Hospice health care provider comes to hospice/home to deactivate device. | 31% |
| Representative from device manufacturing company come to hospice/home to deactivate device. | 47% |
| Hospice has magnet on hand to deactivate ICD.2 | 25% (20, 29) [24-28%] |
| Of hospices with magnet, special training is provided to staff in its use.2 | 64% (53, 76) [60-66%] |
1
Weighted data.
2
Percentages shown in the parenthesis represent the 95% confidence interval for the data. Percentages shown in brackets represent a sensitivity analysis to determine the range of potential responses for those facilities that answered “don't know” to the question. The range was determined by assigning either all “no” or all “yes” answers to those hospices that answered “don't know” to the question.
3
Hospices could choose more than one response.