Table 1.
Characteristics of the Cohort
| Characteristic a | Transferred to LTAC (n=1,831) |
Remained in Hospital (n=11,044) |
|---|---|---|
| Patient Factors Prior to Hospitalization | ||
| Age, years | ||
| 65–69 | 265 (14.5) | 1653 (15.0) |
| 70–74 | 359 (19.6) | 1983 (18.0) |
| 75–79 | 356 (19.4) | 2159 (19.6) |
| 80–84 | 409 (22.3) | 2107 (19.1) |
| ≥ 85 | 442 (24.1) | 3142 (28.5) |
| Female | 1006 (54.9) | 6224 (56.4) |
| White | 1374 (75.0) | 8931 (80.9) |
| Prior LTAC use | 189 (10.3) | 218 (2.0) |
| Prior SNF use | 738 (40.3) | 2889 (26.2) |
| Wheelchair use | 357 (19.5) | 1564 (14.2) |
| Patient Factors of Index Hospitalization | ||
| Length of hospital stay, days | 8 (5–13) | 10 (8–14) |
| Prolonged ICU stay ≥ 3 days | 911 (49.8) | 4619 (41.8) |
| Primary diagnosis | ||
| DRG resource intensity weight | 1.91 (1.47–2.59) | 1.17 (1–1.84) |
| DRG with a MCC designation | 1378 (75.3) | 5614 (50.8) |
| Medical diagnosis type (vs surgical) | 1322 (72.2) | 10155 (92.0) |
| Respiratory MDC | 386 (21.1) | 3572 (32.3) |
| Circulatory MDC | 296 (16.2) | 2260 (20.5) |
| Urinary MDC | 148 (8.1) | 1309 (11.9) |
| Secondary diagnoses b | ||
| Respiratory failure | 612 (33.4) | 2792 (25.3) |
| Sepsis | 681 (37.2) | 2410 (21.8) |
| Skin, soft tissue, or joint infection | 322 (17.6) | 874 (7.9) |
| Chronic skin ulcer | 493 (26.9) | 1484 (13.4) |
| Delirium or dementia | 488 (26.7) | 2295 (20.8) |
| Select intensive treatments and procedures | ||
| Transient mechanical ventilation (<96 hours) | 127 (6.9) | 449 (4.1) |
| Central venous line | 498 (27.2) | 1614 (14.6) |
| Excisional debridement | 76 (4.2) | 89 (0.8) |
| Hospital Factors | ||
| For-profit ownership | 466 (25.5) | 1688 (15.3) |
| Urban | 1662 (90.8) | 9546 (86.4) |
| Region Factors | ||
| Linear arc distance to nearest LTAC, miles | ||
| >33.6 | 90 (4.9) | 2486 (22.5) |
| >11.4 – 33.6 | 204 (11.1) | 2399 (21.7) |
| >5.1– 11.4 | 400 (21.9) | 2161 (19.6) |
| >1.4 – 5.1 | 553 (30.2) | 1995 (18.1) |
| 0–1.4 | 584 (31.9) | 2003 (18.1) |
| State without Certificate of Need law | 685 (37.4) | 7380 (66.8) |
| HRR LTAC supply, beds per 100K persons | 11.1 (7.6–23) | 7 (2.7–11.5) |
| HRR Medicare spending per person, $ | 10,579 (10,003 – 11,646) | 10,091 (9,207 – 10,731) |
| HRR median household income,c $ | 51,761 (45,409 – 60,501) | 52,864 (45,948 – 61,250) |
Abbreviations: LTAC, long-term acute care hospital; SNF, skilled nursing facility; ICU, intensive care unit; DRG, Diagnosis-Related Group; MCC, major complication or comorbidity; MDC, Major Diagnostic Category; HRR, hospital referral region
a
Categorical variables shown as n (%) and continuous variables shown as median (interquartile range)
b
Categorized using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Clinical Classification Software (CCS)
c
Median household income was obtained from the US Census Bureau and aggregated at the HRR level.35