BACKGROUND:
There is inconsistent evidence that
palliative care intervention decreases total
healthcare expenditure at end-of-
life for oncology
patients. This inconsistent evidence may result from small
sample sizes at single institution studies and disparate characterization of
costs across studies. Comprehensive studies in
population-based datasets are needed to fully understand the impact of
palliative care on total
healthcare costs. This study analyzed the impact of
palliative care on total
healthcare costs in a nationally representative sample of advanced
cancer patients.
METHODS:
We conducted a matched
cohort study among
Medicare patients with metastatic
lung, colorectal,
breast and
prostate cancers. We matched
patients who received a
palliative care consultation to
similar patients who did not receive a
palliative care consultation on factors related to both the receipt of
palliative care and end of
life costs. We compared direct
costs between matched
patients to determine the per-
patient economic impact of a
palliative care consultation.
RESULTS:
Patients who received a
palliative care consultation experienced an average per
patient cost of $5,834 compared to $7,784 for usual care
patients (25% decrease; p < 0.0001).
Palliative care consultation within 7 days of
death decreased
healthcare costs by $451, while
palliative care consultation more than 4 weeks from
death decreased
costs by $4,643.
CONCLUSION:
This study demonstrates that
palliative care has the capacity to substantially reduce
healthcare expenditure among advanced
cancer patients. Earlier
palliative care consultation results in greater
cost reductions than
consultation in the last week of
life.