Chapter 5: Quantitative Analysis of 2021 Costing Technique Survey

To read the originally published article in its entirety, please see https://jlcp.scholasticahq.com/article/151650-2022-life-care-planning-summit-costing-techniques-survey-results-and-development-of-a-costing-framework-in-support-of-the-life-care-planning-special

The quantitative data from the costing technique survey disseminated to life care planners in 2021 was analyzed and published in the Journal of Life Care Planning (Johnson et al., 2023) and is being reprinted here for easy reference.

For how long have you been writing life care plans? (n = 260)

How many years of experience did you have in your primary discipline before you began writing LCPs? (n = 260)

Primary certification related to life care planning. (n = 260)

How many LCPs do you write each year? (n = 260)

For what % of the LCPs that you have written in the last 12 months have you enlisted the help of a research assistant to determine costs? (n = 260)

How many times have you testified in a deposition? ( n = 260)

How many times have you testified in a trial? (n = 260)

In which of these jurisdictions have you submitted LCPs? (n = 260)

How did you learn how to research costs for services and products recommended in a LCP?
(n = 438)

For what % of LCPs that you write do you contact providers & vendors by telephone to ask for actual fees and prices in the evaluee’s geographic area? (n = 236)

Do you consider telephone calls to specific providers & vendors a valid method of determining the costs of services & products in a specific geographic area? (n = 236)

For what percentage of the LCPs that you write do you e-mail providers to ask for actual fees for services? (n = 236)

Do you consider e-mail correspondence with specific providers a valid method of determining the cost of services in a specific geographic area? (n = 236)

For those who make telephone calls/write e-mail letters to providers to determine costs for medical services: For what % of the LCPs that you write do you use the term _______when requesting information?

For what % of the LCPs that you write do you use a database to determine the costs of products and services recommended? (n = 223)

For what % of the LCPs that you write do you use a combination of sources to determine the costs of products & services recommended? (n = 223)

Of the LCPs that you write in which medical, surgical, or diagnostic procedures are recommended, for what % do you use _______ to research costs?

When researching medical, surgical, or diagnostic procedure costs, about 85% use CPT codes. In what % of the LCPs that you write do you identify the sources of the costs presented in your plan? (n = 214)

In what % of LCPs written by others that you review can costs be verified with the information provided? (n = 214)

This question is for those who use a database as a source of cost information for their LCPs.
Which percentile do you use to represent costs? (n = 180)

If you do not use a database, how may cost sources do you generally obtain for a specific service or product recommended in a LCP? (n = 214)

If you do not use a database, which of the following do you use to represent costs of specific services and products? (n = 211)

Please indicate if you have current paid subscriptions to, or have paid to download, any of the following databases: (n = 212)

For what % of the LCPs that you have written in the last 12 months have you used any of the databases mentioned in previous question to determine costs? (n = 211)

Which of the following free sources of cost information do you use? (n = 212)

Generally speaking, how many databases, free & subscription, do you consult for cost information when writing a LCP? (n = 212)

For what % of the LCPs that you write do you rely on medical bills to determine costs? (n = 212)

For what % of the LCPs that you write do you rely on a hospital chargemaster or on prices published on hospital websites to determine costs? (n = 212)

For what % of the LCPs that you write do you rely on Medicare fee schedules to determine costs? (n = 212)

On which of the following collateral sources of funding do you rely to determine costs for a LCP? (n = 212)

How current do prices need to be for you to consider them valid? (n = 195)

In what % of the depositions in which you have testified have you been asked to discuss costs appearing in a LCP that you have written? (n = 209)

In what % of the depositions in which you have testified have you been asked to discuss the sources of costs appearing in a LCP that you have written? (n = 209)

In what % of the trials in which you have testified have you been asked to discuss costs
appearing in a LCP that you have written? (n = 209)

In what % of the trials in which you have testified have you been asked to discuss the sources of costs appearing in a LCP that you have written? (n = 209)

How many times has your testimony regarding the costs contained in a LCP been challenged in a motion in limine? (n = 209)

How many times were you excluded from testimony as a result of such a motion? (n = 209)

Please note: The survey results published in the Journal of Life Care Planning (2023) contained a typo which has been corrected in the tables above. The first question on page 48 of the 2023 journal article (Johnson, C. B. et al.), “For what percentage of the LCPs that you write do you e-mail providers to ask for actual fees for services? (n = 236)” should read “For what percentage of the LCPs that you write do you contact providers & vendors by telephone to ask for actual fees and prices in the evaluee’s geographic area? (n = 236)”.