DISCHARGE DESTINATIONS OF MEDICARE PATIENTS RECEIVING DISCHARGE PLANNING - WHO GOES WHERE

This study aims to increase knowledge about factors affecting discharg e destinations of Medicare patients leaving the hospital after receivi ng discharge planning services. Medical, social, financial, and demogr aphic factors are tested in relation to three dispositions: home, nurs ing home, and rehabilitation unit. Polytomous logistic regression was used to assess the likelihood of going to one destination versus anoth er. For both nursing home versus home and rehabilitation unit versus h ome, destination was a function of first medical and then financial fa ctors, with social resources playing a lesser role in the models. The only demographic variable with a significant relationship to destinati on was race, with black patients less likely to enter nursing home set tings.