Impact of an anticipatory care planning intervention on unscheduled acute hospital care using difference-in-difference analysis

Attakrit Leckcivilize, Paul McNamee, Christopher Cooper, Robby Steel

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Abstract

Unscheduled admissions to hospital place great demands on the use of limited healthcare resources in health systems worldwide. A range of approaches exist to manage demand; however, interventions within hospitals have received less attention, and the evidence base on effectiveness is limited. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a novel intervention, implemented in National Health Service Lothian, to reduce the number of unscheduled attendances, and to estimate the impact on hospital admissions, length of hospital stay and overall total acute hospital costs.Methods Before and after observational study of an anticipatory care planning intervention targeted among people identified by a prediction algorithm (Scottish Patients at Risk of Readmission and Admission) as being at high risk of future unscheduled hospital admissions. The statistical significance of the difference in outcomes observed before and after implementation of the intervention between August 2014 and July 2015 was tested using difference-in-difference analysis.Results The intervention was estimated to reduce the number of unscheduled hospital admissions and emergency department (ED) visits by approximately 0.36 (950.905 to 0.191) per patient per year (based on 954 and 450 patients in the intervention and control groups, respectively). There was also non-significant reductions in length of hospital stay for unscheduled admissions and hospital costs for ED visits and inpatient care. The overall predicted effect of the intervention for the average participant was a saving of around textsterling2912 (957347.0 to 1523.9) per patient per year.Conclusion An anticipatory care planning intervention focused among people judged to be at higher risk of future unscheduled hospital admissions can be effective in reducing the number of unscheduled admissions to hospital and ED visits, and may lead to an overall saving in use of hospital resources.Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. Data access has to be applied with the NHS Lothian Caldicott Guardian.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere100305
Number of pages13
JournalBMJ Health Care Informatics
Volume28
Issue number1
Early online date25 May 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 May 2021

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements We thank Information Statistics Division and the data analytical team from NHS Lothian for data linkage.
Funding This work was supported by NHS Lothian through an award from the Invest to Save Fund. The Health Economics Research Unit is funded by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates.

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