title: The effect of admission to long-term care program on utilization of health services by the elderly in British Columbia.
abstract: Utilization patterns of elderly clients admitted to the British Columbia Long Term Care (LTC) program were recorded and analysed. Patients were either located at home or in facilities and were classified into one of five levels of care. Data on GP and specialist contacts, acute care hospital admissions and hospital length of stay were analysed for each client (N = 7251) for two consecutive years, one before and one after admission to the program. There was only a slight decline or no change in utilization of ambulatory health services following admission to the program but a more pronounced reduction in utilization of hospital related services particularly by clients located in facilities (60-70%). When utilization rates were controlled for peak levels in the period around admission, more moderate trends evolved. Yet, clients located in facilities showed a 20% decrease in hospital admission rates and a 40% decrease in GP hospital visits in the period following admission. The data suggests that admission to LTC may reduce acute hospital utilization and consequent physician utilization among clients who are cared for in an institution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: A Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Ellencweig
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Stark
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pagliccia
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: McCashin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tourigny
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001955:British Columbia; D005260:Female; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006761:Hospitals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008297:Male; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012866:Skilled Nursing Facilities