Early palliative care lowers hospital costs in patients with advanced cancer

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

Earlier palliative care consultation during hospital admission is associated with lower cost of hospital stay for patients admitted with a diagnosis of advanced cancer, a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology has shown.

For the prospective study, researchers collected clinical and cost data for adult patients admitted to five hospital in the United States from 2007 to 2011. The researchers identified 969 patients. Of those, 256 received a palliative care consultation and 713 received usual care only.

Results showed that a palliative care consultation within 6 days of admission is estimated to lower costs by $1,312 compared with no intervention. Researchers found that a palliative care consultation within 2 days reduced costs by $2,280. These figures correspond to a 14% and 24% decrease, respectively, in cost of hospital stay.

The findings suggest that early palliative care should be more widely adopted.