A prospective study on the characteristics and subjects of pediatric palliative care case management provided by a hospital based palliative care team

Table 3 Time spent on support from the PPCT

Total study period	89 days
Duration support per patient; median (range)	60 days (9–89)
Number of contacts between PPCT and parents	526 of which 455 in questionnaires
Number of contacts per patient; median (range)	5 (0–37)
Patients with no registered contacts	6 (9 %)
Time spent by the PPCT members on case management
- Total time spent on case management; median hours (range)	9.9 (0.3–87.5)
- Time spent on direct patient contacts^a; median hours (range)	2.7 (0.0–20.3)
- Time spent per contact^a; median minutes (range)	30 (5–195)
- Time spent^a per patient; median minutes (range)	225 (0–1400)
- Time spent on patient related activities: median hours^b (range)	6.2 (0.0–67.3)

Provides information on the duration and intensity of support from the PPCT. The information on contacts derives from the contacts as registered via the questionnaires of the team members. All contacts with any of the team members of the multidisciplinary PPCT are summed
The two categories together describe the total time spent on case management
^aTime spent on “direct contacts” included intake interviews, support at home and in the hospital, email and/or telephone contact, and aftercare
^bTime spent on “other patient related activities” include: consults with other disciplines, school or other involved professionals, multi-disciplinary conferences concerning a specific patient, and all supportive activities such as arranging materials, administrative activities and travelling time

ISSN: 1472-684X