The Positive Financial Impact of Hospital Palliative Care

Palliative care increases patient and family satisfaction and improves quality. But, the benefits of palliative care accrue well beyond high-quality care for people living with serious illness. Robust palliative care services lead to strong financial performance across many parameters.

Palliative care reduces variable costs per day. [1]

Palliative Care Reduces Variable Costs Per Day

Palliative care improves through-put by:

  • Expediting decision-making in the face of difficult circumstances
  • Improving surgical teams’ efficiency by handling the difficult conversations
  • Improving triage to the right settings
  • Reducing burnout among surgeons and Emergency Department clinicians

Palliative care reduces length-of-stay. [2,3]

Palliative Care Reduces Length-of-Stay

Palliative care reduces re-admission rates and penalties. [4,5]

Palliative Care Reduces Re-Admission Rates and Penalties

Palliative care improves performance on hospital mortality measures.

  • Palliative care encounter code (Z51.5) improves risk adjustment in Vizient and Premier calculations.
  • Successful transfer to hospice removes patient’s death from mortality calculations in Vizient, HealthGrades, and Premier.

References

  1. May P, Normand C, et al. Economics of Palliative Care for Hospitalized Adults: A Meta-analysis, JAMA Intern Med, 2018;178(6):820-829.

  2. Khandelwal N, Kross EK, et al. Estimating the Effect of Palliative Care Interventions and Advance Care Planning on ICU Utilization: A Systematic Review. Crit Car Med, 2015 May;43(5):1102-11.

  3. Aslakson R, Chen J, et al. Evidence-based Palliative Care in the Intensive Care Unit: A Systematic Review. J Palliat Med, 2014 Feb;17(2):219-35.

  4. Cassel JB, Garrido M, et al. Impact of Specialist Palliative Care on Re-Admissions: A “Competing Risks” Analysis to Take Mortality into Account. JPSM, 2018, Feb;55(2):581.

  5. CAPC Analysis 2018.

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