Paying for Palliative Care in Medicare

10/03/19 at 11:21 AM by Cordt Kassner

Paying for Palliative Care in Medicare: Evidence from the Four Seasons / Duke CMMI Demonstration. J Pain Symptom Manage 2019; 58:654-661. PubMed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31254641

A 3-year (2014-2017) observational study of 5243 Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in a multisetting community palliative care program in North and South Carolina found:

  1. Hospice enrollment 60% higher among those enrolled in the palliative care program vs non-enrolled.
  2. Participants discharged to hospice had 17% lower costs vs. non-enrolled.
  3. Participants enrolled for 30+ days who died on service had 42% lower costs in the last 30 days of life vs. non-enrolled.

 

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