Return-to-Care After Discharge Directly Home From the PICU: A Propensity-Matched Cohort Study

Abstract

Objectives: To compare the proportion of PICU patients returning to the emergency department (ED) or readmitted within 14 days of hospital discharge, between those discharged directly home from the PICU and those transferred to acute care before discharge home; we hypothesized that rates of return-to-care would be similar. Design: Propensity-matched multicenter cohort study. Setting: Forty-five U.S. hospitals participating in Pediatric Health Information Systems. Patients: Children admitted to a non-neonatal cardiac or PICU from 2016 to 2023. Interventions: None. Measurements and main results: Of 560,815 PICU discharges, 150,126 (26.8%) were discharged directly home, although this proportion varied by center (9.8-55.6%). We matched 94,048 children (62.6%) discharged directly home to 153,887 ward-transferred children at admission year, admission type, principal diagnosis, and a propensity score estimating the likelihood of being discharged directly home. Compared with ward-transferred peers, children discharged directly home had similar rates of return-to-ED care (2.9% vs. 3.0%; odds ratio [OR], 0.94 [0.89-0.99]) and hospital readmission (4.8% vs. 4.9%; OR, 0.97 [0.94-1.01]) within 14 days. Once readmitted, however, children discharged directly home were more likely to be readmitted to a PICU (2.4% vs. 1.6%; OR, 1.58 [1.49-1.67]). Costs for the index hospitalization were lower for children discharged directly home compared with ward-transferred peers, leading to lower inpatient healthcare costs over 14 days (median, 15,023 [7,614.5-34,294.6] vs. 30,750 [14,558.3-68,830.6]; p ≤ 0.001). Conclusions: Discharge directly home from the PICU is common; children discharged directly home have comparable likelihood of return-to-ED or inpatient care as matched, ward-discharged peers. Discharge directly home for appropriate patients may provide increased efficiency for healthcare systems.