Physician Home Visits in the Last 90 Days of Life

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Palliative Care
Country
Canada
Publishing Organisation
Cancer Quality Council of Ontario Cancer System Quality Index
Type of Quality Indicator
Process
IOM Quality Dimension
Effectiveness
Domain
Care of the Patient at the End of Life

Defining Attributes

Definition

Physician home visits at the end of life is an indicator of supportive end-of-life care.

Numerator

Those in the denominator (decedents) who received at least one physician home visit in their last 90 days of life

Denominator

Number of people who died within the specified time period, who had a breast, cervix, colorectal, lung of prostate cancer within 5 years of death, and was aged 18 or older at diagnosis

Exclusions

Inclusion in the decedent cohort is not limited to those whose cause of death is the cancer in question. As a result, some deaths, and physician home visits in the last 90 days of life, may be related to illness or injury other than the specific cancer. Ontario cancer patients who died outside of Ontario who would not be identified in the Ontario administrative data

Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments

None

Stratifications

Collection and Reporting Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Administrative data
Data Collection Methods

Data are sourced from Ontario Cancer Registry (OCR), Registered Persons Data Base (RPDB and Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP)

Frequency of Data Collection
Not regularly used
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
Reporting Methods
Reporting Frequency
Reporting Frequency in Days
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No

Source and Reference Attributes

Link to Measurement Tools
Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
No
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
No
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Can the Quality Indicator be Readily Implemented at a Population Level in Australia Given its Current Data Landscape?
Implementation of this quality indicator was not assessed.
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
31 March 2026