Palliative Care Saves

Cost-effective and pain-killing? Yes please.

 Palliative care, a service very much like hospice care but for those who are not terminally ill, is a growing field but still quite misunderstood. The average patient does not know the difference, and as a result are often worried when a palliative care team approaches them. The reality, though, is that palliative care simply does a better job of coping with the actual symptoms resulting from serious conditions than traditional medical care. Much like hospice, palliative care reduces treatment expenses as well, as this quote from a Washington Post article explains:

A study in the March edition of Health Affairs found that Medicaid patients at four New York state hospitals who received palliative care on average incurred nearly $7,000 less in hospital costs per admission than Medicaid patients who didn’t receive palliative care. This study supports the results of a 2008 Archives of Internal Medicine study of non-Medicaid patients at eight hospitals that showed average savings of about $1,700 for those who survived a hospital stay and $4,900 for those who did not.

With the ever-rising cost of hospital care taking a toll on many, saving thousands of dollars per person is nothing to scoff at, not to mention the incredible benefits to patient and family.