Are Transition Care Program clients becoming more complex ? a review of data from 2006-2023.
Tracks
Chancellor 6
Enablement / Reablement
Health Management
Rehabilitation
| Friday, November 15, 2024 |
| 12:00 PM - 12:15 PM |
Speaker
Dr Natasha Reid
Research Fellow
Australian Frailty Network, The University Of Queensland
Are Transition Care Program clients becoming more complex ? a review of data from 2006-2023.
Abstract
Aim: The Transition Care Program (TCP) is a short-term rehabilitation service intended to keep older adults at home after hospitalisation. This study aimed to assess client complexity by examining trends in TCP utilisation, expenditure, and client demographics, including functional status, over 17 years.
Methods: We retrieved publicly available reports from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare from 2006-2007 to 2022–2023 and examined: admissions/year, modified Barthel index (MBI; a measure of functional status) on entry, exit, and change in MBI, length of stay (LOS), allocated places, and total expenditure, for Australia and by each state/territory.
Results: 335,240 people accessed TCP during the study period. Admissions increased 2.5 times from 10,355 (2006-2007) to 25,113 (2016-2017), then declined to 16,616 in 2022-2023 despite increases in number of places (2000–4503; +125%) and expenditure (32.9–295.2 million; +797%) across Australia. There was minimal change in entry MBI (70.0-71.5) or exit MBI scores (80.0-82.5). Total LOS increased by 60%, from 48 to 77 days. Average cost/admission also increased 326%, from $4,836 to $20,586. State-based variations are also evident.
Conclusion: Our data suggest that clients are spending longer in TCP and require more services, resulting in higher overall expenditure. While this may indicate they are becoming increasingly complex, this is not reflected in entry MBI scores in this aggregated Australia-wide data. Future studies with more detailed patient-level data and outcomes are needed. The variability between jurisdictions and intricacies of the aged care sector that may impact our findings are also discussed.
Methods: We retrieved publicly available reports from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare from 2006-2007 to 2022–2023 and examined: admissions/year, modified Barthel index (MBI; a measure of functional status) on entry, exit, and change in MBI, length of stay (LOS), allocated places, and total expenditure, for Australia and by each state/territory.
Results: 335,240 people accessed TCP during the study period. Admissions increased 2.5 times from 10,355 (2006-2007) to 25,113 (2016-2017), then declined to 16,616 in 2022-2023 despite increases in number of places (2000–4503; +125%) and expenditure (32.9–295.2 million; +797%) across Australia. There was minimal change in entry MBI (70.0-71.5) or exit MBI scores (80.0-82.5). Total LOS increased by 60%, from 48 to 77 days. Average cost/admission also increased 326%, from $4,836 to $20,586. State-based variations are also evident.
Conclusion: Our data suggest that clients are spending longer in TCP and require more services, resulting in higher overall expenditure. While this may indicate they are becoming increasingly complex, this is not reflected in entry MBI scores in this aggregated Australia-wide data. Future studies with more detailed patient-level data and outcomes are needed. The variability between jurisdictions and intricacies of the aged care sector that may impact our findings are also discussed.
Biography
Natasha Reid is a research fellow and behavioural scientist with the Australian Frailty Network and Centre for Health Services Research at the University of Queensland.
Natasha specialises in research aiming to understand and influence frailty and quality of life in older adults across settings from community to long-term care, cancer and acute-care patients. Having worked across secondary data analysis to primary data collection and intervention, Natasha’s experience includes complex data analysis as well as both individual and systems-level behaviour change strategies. She is currently involved in over $10million in research grants focused on frailty, healthy ageing, behavioural change, and lifestyle interventions to improve quality of life.
Natasha helps support students at varying levels of their studies in research methodology and data analysis. She sits on several boards and committees, including the executive leadership boards of the Australian Frailty Network and the Australia and New Zealand Society for Sarcopenia and Frailty and Research.
Session Chair
Claire O'Connor
Senior Research Fellow
University of New South Wales
