Impact of Palliative Care Consultations on Resource Utilization in the Final 48 to 72 Hours of Life at an Acute Care Hospital in Ontario, Canada.
J Palliat Care
; 31(2): 69-75, 2015.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26201208
ABSTRACT
A wealth of literature and economic analyses has shown that palliative care is associated with significant cost reductions compared to nonpalliative care. However, no one has assessed the impact of an inpatient palliative care consultation service on costs at the very end of life (48 to 72 hours before death). This retrospective cohort review of 100 inpatients at a large hospital in Ontario examines the effect of palliative care consultations on seven independent cost categories during this period medical-imaging costs, physician costs, laboratory costs, pharmaceutical costs, other health professional costs, food services costs, and unit costs. Our study shows that patients who receive palliative care consultations are associated with significantly lower costs in the final 48 to 72 hours of life than their nonpalliative counterparts. Another significant finding was that the degree of cost reduction at the very end of life appears to be relative to how soon after the patient's admission the palliative care consultation was initiated.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Cuidados Paliativos
/
Encaminhamento e Consulta
/
Assistência Terminal
/
Procedimentos Desnecessários
/
Recursos em Saúde
Limite:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Palliat Care
Ano de publicação:
2015
Tipo de documento:
Article