Such transitions included transferring from and to a hospital, skilled nursing facility, home health agency, hospice, or home. The researchers said that they considered these specific transitions because they were those most likely to mean changes in the patient's care team, which could lead to uncoordinated care.
Of the 311,090 people included in the study:
- 10.2 percent (31,675) experienced at least one healthcare transition after their hospice enrollment.
- 6.6 percent of hospice patients had more than one care transition, some up to 19 transitions.
- Of those transitions, more than half were to a hospital.
Those who experienced care transitions tended to be younger or non-white, had more than one chronic condition, or received in-patient hospice care compared to those who did not experience transitions.
The number of transitions varied widely from state to state, ranging from 6.9 percent of study subjects in Idaho to 20.6 percent of study subjects in Florida. The proportion of people who had a transition to a hospital ranged from 1.6 percent in North Dakota to 13.4 percent in Mississippi.