Publications [#327355] of Donald H. Taylor

We've launched a new site so please go to People & Research for current information on our faculty and staff.

Journal Articles

  1. Dolin, R; Holmes, GM; Stearns, SC; Kirk, DA; Hanson, LC; Taylor, DH; Silberman, P. "A Positive Association Between Hospice Profit Margin And The Rate At Which Patients Are Discharged Before Death.." Health affairs (Project Hope) 36.7 (July, 2017): 1291-1298. [doi]
    (last updated on 2024/04/24)

    Abstract:
    Hospice care is designed to support patients and families through the final phase of illness and death. Yet for more than a decade, hospices have steadily increased the rate at which they discharge patients before death-a practice known as "live discharge." Although certain live discharges are consistent with high-quality care, regulators have expressed concern that some hospices' desire to maximize profits drives them to inappropriately discharge patients. We used Medicare claims data for 2012-13 and cost reports for 2011-13 to explore relationships between hospice-level financial margins and live discharge rates among freestanding hospices. Adjusted analyses showed positive and significant associations between both operating and total margins and hospice-level rates of live discharge: One-unit increases in operating and total margin were associated with increases of 3 percent and 4 percent in expected hospice-level live discharge rates, respectively. These findings suggest that additional research is needed to explore links between profitability and patient-centeredness in the Medicare hospice program.

Donald H. Taylor