Cost Savings Associated With an Inpatient Palliative Care Unit: Results From the First Two Years.
Publication Date
2015
Journal Title
J Pain Symptom Manage
ISSN
1873-6513
Abstract
CONTEXT: Palliative care consultation services (PCCS) decrease costs for patients by matching treatments received to patients' and families' goals of care. However, few studies have examined the costs of a specialized palliative care unit (PCU).
OBJECTIVES: To quantitatively describe Mount Sinai Hospital's PCU's first two years of operation; to examine how patient-related costs changed in the days before and after transfer to PCU; and to compare cost savings of PCU to those of PCCS.
METHODS: Cost and administrative data from PCU patients from the first 24.5 months of our PCU's operation were analyzed. To compare costs between PCU and PCCS patients, we matched PCU patients to similar PCCS patients and used propensity scores to adjust for differences across groups.
RESULTS: The PCU admitted 1107 patients in its first 24.5 months. Over this time frame, there was a statistically significant (P < 0.001) decrease in average daily direct costs per patient. The mean of patients' average cost per day was $687 less while on the PCU than before transfer to PCU. Among patients who died in the hospital, average daily direct cost per patient in the days after transfer to PCU was $240 lower as compared with patients being followed by PCCS on the general hospital wards (SE = $45, P < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: Among patients who died in the hospital, transfer to a PCU is associated with significant cost savings as compared with patients on hospital wards who are seen by a PCCS.
Volume Number
50
Issue Number
2
Pages
147-154
Document Type
Article
Status
Faculty
Facility
School of Medicine
Primary Department
Science Education
PMID
DOI
10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2015.02.023