A Comparison of Hospice Care Utilization Between Rural and Urban Children in Appalachia: A Geographic Information Systems Analysis.

Long driving times from hospice providers to patients lead to poor quality of care, which may exacerbate in rural and highly isolated areas of Appalachia. This study aimed to investigate geographic patterns of pediatric hospice care across Appalachia. Using person-level Medicaid claims of 1,788 pediatric hospice enrollees who resided in the Appalachian Region between 2011 and 2013.

Conceptualizing the Value of Pediatric Concurrent Hospice Care.

Given that pediatric concurrent hospice care has been available for more than a decade, it is appropriate to seek an understanding of the value of this care delivery approach. Value is the cost associated with achieving beneficial health outcomes. In pursuit of this goal, the current literature on pediatric concurrent hospice care was synthesized and used to develop a model to explain its value.