title: Evaluating the outcomes of elderly patients receiving Canterbury District Health Board funded care at the end of life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the frequency of readmission into the hospital and interventions received by patients who are known to be terminally ill under the SupportCare End-of-life Fund (SC-EOL), a 90 days fund made available to patients who are terminally ill and requires hospital level care in Canterbury. The secondary objective is to determine the survival time after allocation to the SC-EOL funding.
  
  
  METHODS
  List of patients aged 65 years and older approved on the SC-EOL fund between March to May 2010 is obtained from the coordination centre which handles the services of all SC-EOL funded patients. Using hospital electronic database and medical records, data on demographics, sources of referral, survival, readmissions and associated interventions were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  60 patients were identified. The average age was 80.6 years. 75% had a diagnosis of cancer as their terminal illness. Three of the 60 patients were readmitted to hospital. Two of these were deemed to have been potentially avoidable. These patients underwent routine blood tests and X-rays and received intravenous fluid. The median survival time was 19 days.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The subgroup of patients who has terminal illness under the SC-EOL fund has a low rate of readmission to hospital and inappropriate interventions.
authors: Departments of Oncology, Haematology and Palliative Care, Christchurch Hospital, Canterbury District Health Board, Christchurch, New Zealand. Jenny.Chieng@cdhb.govt.nz
authors: Jenny H C
authors: JH
authors: Chieng
authors: Katherine E
authors: KE
authors: Grundy
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D017046:Cost Savings; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D008297:Male; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000191:economics*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000191:economics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D009520:New Zealand; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000191:economics*; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000191:economics*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000191:economics*