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Palliative care programs help patients, lower costs

Hospitalist Leadership Connection, July 11, 2007

Palliative care programs, which incorporate some aspects of the hospice philosophy while continuing treatment for patients with a life expectancy of six months or less, exist to improve patients' quality of life and to better managing patients' pain, nausea, respiratory, and other problems.

But according to a July 3 Washington Post article, by moving patients out of intensive care or out of the hospital sooner, palliative care teams also may keep hospital costs down.

The article states that while not all health economists or policymakers are convinced of the savings of such programs, the field's explosive growth is proving that hospital administrators are experiencing cost benefits.

Diane Meier, head of the Center to Advance Palliative Care based at Mount Sinai in New York, is quoted in the article as saying, "Hospital CEOs are voting with their feet," she said. "We are way past the tipping point."

About a third of U.S. hospitals now offer some form of palliative care, according to the article.

To access the full story, go to: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/29/AR2007062902064.html.

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