Figure 2. Condition-specific Standardized End-of-Life Treatment Ratios.
Scatter plots and density plots of cancer and CHF/COPD standardized (observed to expected treatment) intensity ratios among admissions ‘prospectively’ identified as being at the ‘end of life’ (e.g., at high probability of dying upon admission; panels a-f) and among admissions ‘retrospectively’ identified as being at the ‘end of life’ (e.g., terminal admissions; panels g-l). In the scatter plots, each circle represents a single hospital. Hospitals closer to the 45 degree line treat patient with cancer and CHF/COPD more similarly. Circles above the line treat CHF/COPD patients more intensely than cancer patients, while circles below the line treat cancer patients more intensely than CHF/COPD patients. (Note: one hospital’s data point in Figure 2, panel e, falls outside the axis with a cancer-specific standardized ratio for tracheostomy of ~ 8).