Table 3.
Facility Characteristics by Type of Facility (N = 3,419 Facilities)
| FP Chain 1 | FP Chain 2 | FP Chain 3 | FP Chain 4 | NP Chain 5 | FP Nonchain | NP Nonchain | p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Facility size (avg # patients/facility) | 73 (43) | 78 (46) | 82 (51) | 70 (46) | 66 (40) | 73 (48) | 89 (63) | <.0001 |
| Ratio of technicians to registered nurses | 2.2 (1.5) | 2.4 (8.3) | 2.7 (1.3) | 2.6 (3.7) | 1.4 (0.9) | 2 (1.7) | 1.8 (2) | .0001 |
| % White based on facility zip code | 70 (24) | 67 (26) | 68 (25) | 72 (23) | 74 (23) | 70 (25) | 73 (24) | .0006 |
| GINI coefficient for income inequality* | 0.45 (0.04) | 0.45 (0.04) | 0.45 (0.04) | 0.45 (0.03) | 0.46 (0.04) | 0.45 (0.04) | 0.44 (0.03) | .0004 |
| Region (%) | <.0001 | |||||||
| Northeast (Networks 1–5) | 23.0 | 22.2 | 18.9 | 6.3 | 26.5 | 25.0 | 21.5 | |
| Southeast (Networks 6–8, 13, 14) | 46.0 | 40.6 | 35.0 | 43.1 | 42.5 | 38.2 | 19.0 | |
| Midwest (Networks 9–12) | 19.3 | 20.2 | 22.3 | 34.7 | 18.8 | 20.2 | 27.0 | |
| West (Networks 15–18) | 11.7 | 16.9 | 23.8 | 15.9 | 12.2 | 16.5 | 32.5 | |
| Urban/rural status | .0002 | |||||||
| Rural (% yes) | 31.1 | 25.7 | 25.7 | 36.0 | 39.8 | 28.6 | 27.0 | |
| Urban (% yes) | 68.9 | 74.3 | 74.3 | 64.0 | 60.2 | 71.4 | 73.0 | |
| Facility clinical characteristics | ||||||||
| Use of EPO (average units/month)† | 85,377 (21,323) | 99,354 (23,289) | 92,309 (22,791) | 86,667 (22,390) | 76,398 (19,817) | 75,177 (25,538) | 75,488 (24,370) | <.0001 |
| Use of iron (average mg/month)† | 227 (68) | 283 (74) | 290 (84) | 221 (66) | 228 (55) | 225 (83) | 192 (68) | <.0001 |
| Use of Vitamin D (average mcg/month)† | 43 (15) | 52 (17) | 47 (19) | 35 (13) | 18 (12) | 29 (16) | 26 (13) | <.0001 |
| Use of all three injectable medications* | 7.4 (2.1) | 9.3 (2.1) | 8.7 (2.3) | 6.9 (2.3) | 5.5 (1.7) | 6 (2.2) | 5.4 (1.9) | <.0001 |
| % Patients with HCT>33% | 91 (7) | 92 (9) | 93 (7) | 92 (7) | 90 (9) | 88 (13) | 89 (12) | <.0001 |
| % Patients with URR>65% | 96 (4) | 93 (7) | 95 (5) | 96 (4) | 90 (7) | 92 (9) | 93 (7) | <.0001 |
Notes. Italics indicate significance of 0.05. Numbers in parentheses are standard deviations.
*
Summarized based on the dose quartile distributions with a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 12.
†
Summarized for every certified facility based on entire 2004 outpatient dialysis claims.
EPO, epoetin; FP, for-profit; HCT, hematocrit; NP, nonprofit; URR, urea reduction ratio.