Medical Staff

Palliative care cut hospital costs

Hospitalist Leadership Connection, March 15, 2011

Palliative care consultation teams reduce hospital costs for Medicaid beneficiaries, according to a study published in HealthAffairs.

Researchers surveyed four New York State hospitals. Patients who received palliative care on average incurred $6,900 less in hospital costs per admission compared to a similarly matched group of patients without palliative care.

“We estimate that the reductions in Medicaid hospital spending in New York State could eventually range from $84 million to $252 million annually (assuming that 2% and 6% of Medicaid patients discharged from the hospital received palliative care, respectively), if every hospital with 150 or more beds had a fully operational palliative care consultation team,” states the study.

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