The economic challenges of palliative medicine

Author(s):  
Thomas J. Smith ◽  
J. Brian Cassel

The compelling reasons for palliative care continue to be better symptom management, better advanced care planning and medically appropriate goal setting, and transitions to hospice care. Other new-found compelling reasons include better survival with hospice care, better survival with concurrent palliative care, and lower cost to hospitals and government and insurance funders. In studies to date, hospice and palliative care have been associated with equal or better survival and equal or lower cost. This chapter defines the various types of cost and clinical studies (including cost minimization, cost-effectiveness, cost utility analysis, cost-benefit, cost avoidance) and discusses the available data about the economic challenges of palliative care, how to apply the available data, how to collect and present some useful and useable data, and new directions for research.

Author(s):  
Arsalan Sarmad ◽  
B. Syed Salman ◽  
Syed Sharfuddin Ibrahim

Cost-benefit analysis can be used to quantify the value of clinical pharmacy services. Providing Effective Therapy and Minimum cost, Quantify costs of care, Quantify outcomes, Assess whether and by how much average costs and outcomes differ among treatment groups, Compare magnitude of difference in costs and outcomes and evaluate “value for costs” by reporting a cost-effectiveness ratio, net monetary benefit, or probability that ratio is acceptable – Potential hypothesis: Cost per quality-adjusted life year saved significantly less than Rs.75,000, To Perform sensitivity analysis. For providing good effective therapy with less adverse drug reaction at affordable price, Cost-Identification, Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, Cost-Utility Analysis, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Clinical outcomes: Cure, comfort and survival, Humanistic outcomes: Physical, emotional, social function, role performance, Economic outcomes, Economic Evaluation, Cost of Illness Evaluation (COI), Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA), Cost Minimization Analysis, Cost Effective Analysis: Cost Utility Analysis.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-58
Author(s):  
Sabita Paudel

Pharmacoeconomics is a branch of health economics which is derived from latin word “Pharmacon”- and “Economia”- It deals with the economic aspect of health that is the costs of health services. There are different types of costs which is affecting the health services. There is not only the direct medical cost, but also direct nonmedical cost, indirect nonmedical costs and intangible cost. The consequences of therapy are evaluated from economic, clinical and humanistic perspective, also known as the ECHO model. There are partial and full pharmacoeconomic analyses. The partial analyses are cost of illness and cost of consequence. The full analyses are cost effective, cost benefit, cost utility and cost minimization analyses. The cost effective analysis is the most commonly used analysis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S328-S328
Author(s):  
Monika Pogorzelska-Maziarz ◽  
Jeannette Kates ◽  
Jingjing Shang ◽  
Angela M Gerolamo

Abstract Background Due to the emergence of COVID-19 and resulting pandemic, there is an increased demand for palliative care and hospice care services. However, the impact of COVID-19 on the hospice and palliative agencies is unknown. Methods An electronic survey was disseminated via the Hospice & Palliative Nurses Association newsletter, posted to the Sigma Theta Tau Hospice and Palliative Care Community Group discussion board and advertised through social media from May 7–28, 2020. Summary statistics were computed. Results We collected 36 surveys representing all U.S. regions. Most respondents (78%) reported that their agency has cared for confirmed COVID-19 patients. Only half of agencies had access to laboratory facilities for surveillance and detection of the presence of outbreaks in both patients and staff (58%) and the ability to test patients and providers for COVID-19 (55%). Due to COVID-19, participants stated that the agency added new protocols regarding aerosol-generating procedures policies (58%), use of surface barriers (61%) and PPE usage (e.g. donning and doffing) in patient homes (56%). The majority (76%) reported that their agency required field clinicians to call ahead to ascertain COVID-19 exposure/symptoms before a home visit. More than half (58%) reported that their agency lacked supplies, including N95 respirators (45%), cleaning/disinfectant product (23%), alcohol based sanitizer (18%), eye protection (18%), gowns (18%), and surgical masks (14%). Overall, participants shared that field clinicians had to reuse (76%), extend (73%) or ration (30%) PPE supplies. Respondents reported that their agency accessed supplemental PPE through state/local resources (67%), private/community donations (67%), and do-it-yourself efforts (55%). One third (31%) reported that their agency was experiencing staffing shortages due to COVID-19; of these, 60% reported that shortages were due to staff infected with/quarantined due to COVID-19. Conclusion Our findings suggest that COVID-19 has presented significant challenges for palliative care and hospice agencies as they provide care to patients and families at an unprecedented rate. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures


Author(s):  
David J. Wallace ◽  
Derek C. Angus

Critical care accounts for a large and growing part of national health expenditures. Cost-effectiveness analyses are one way to identify therapies that maximize society’s return on investment. This chapter provides a broad overview of four cost study designs—cost-minimization, cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness, and cost-utility. Cost -effectiveness analysis allows the costs and benefits of different therapies to be directly compared. Within a constrained budget, cost-effectiveness analysis can identify the optimal therapies for funding. Policy informed by cost effectiveness should improve public health. The reader is introduced to the concepts of cost perspective, included costs and cost discounting. We conclude by describing policy implications of cost effectiveness evaluations and highlight their relevance to the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S199-S199
Author(s):  
George Demiris ◽  
Karen Hirschman

Abstract In order to better support older adults with life-limiting illness and their families, many initiatives utilize information technology and other innovative platforms to increase access to supportive services and bridge geographic distance. Such technologies cover a broad range of systems ranging from smart phone applications to wearables and traditional telehealth platforms. There is a growing evidence base for such interventions but technical, clinical and ethical challenges remain when utilizing technology in the context of hospice and palliative care especially for older adults, including the concerns for caregiver burden, privacy, security, confidentiality, obtrusiveness and accessibility. In this symposium we provide an overview of innovative tools available for interventions in palliative and hospice care designed for patients and/or family caregivers in urban and rural settings. We provide lessons learned from three NIH funded studies testing different technology-based interventions in various settings including home hospice and outpatient palliative care. Discussion will follow focused on the clinical, ethical and practical challenges of innovation and the unique considerations for technology-mediated intervention design in a variety of palliative and hospice care settings. This symposium aims to provide: 1. an overview of existing technology-based interventions for older adults and their families in palliative care and hospice 2. evidence-based recommendations resulting from clinical trials in urban and rural settings for the design and implementation of innovative tools in hospice and palliative care 3. a discussion of challenges and opportunities for the use of technology to support older adults and their families


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Ashley ◽  
Tracy K. Fasolino

Hospice and palliative care aim to improve the quality of life for patients and families impacted by chronic, serious, and life-threatening illnesses. Patients and families benefit from earlier integration of palliative care and seamless transitions to hospice care. Nurses are an integral part of the care team, and their understanding of these services is critical. However, many nurses do not receive formal education in hospice and palliative care. This leads to lack of skills that nurses need to provide and discuss hospice and palliative care across care settings. Nurses in an acute care setting of a large health system were invited to participate in a survey, Attitudes Towards Care at the End-of-Life. The results of this survey revealed that nurses believe that patients and families need to be communicated with honestly regarding their disease, but nurses lack the knowledge of how to facilitate these discussions. Another key finding is that nurses feel less confident with non-pharmacologic interventions to relieve patients’ suffering. Education is urgently needed in these areas.


1989 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 633-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce J. Fried ◽  
Catherine Worthington ◽  
Raisa B. Deber

Economic evaluation is becoming an increasingly important part of the evaluation of health and mental health services. Current models for conducting economic evaluation, including cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and cost-utility analysis, have great potential for improving the quality of decision-making and for making mental health programs more effective and efficient. This paper presents the basic economic theory underlying the various forms of economic evaluation and provides general guidelines for developing and conducting an economic analysis of a health program.


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