Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Palliative Medicine
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Serra-Prat, M.
Right arrow Articles by Picaza, J. M
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Serra-Prat, M.
Right arrow Articles by Picaza, J. M
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Home palliative care as a cost-saving alternative: evidence from Catalonia

Mateu Serra-Prat

Catalan Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Research, Catalan Heath Service: Department of Heath and Social Security, Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona

Pedro Gallo

Catalan Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Research, Catalan Heath Service, Department of Heath and Social Security, Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona: Department of Sociology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona

Josep M Picaza

PADES Mataró, Catalan Institute of Health, Barcelona

The aim of this study was to provide a comparative assessment of the health care resources consumed during the final month of life of patients undergoing palliative treatment and who died from cancer in the town of Mataró, Spain, in 1998, with respect to whether they benefited from home care teams or not. Relevant differences in the use of health care resources were found between the groups. Patients in the standard care group presented more hospital care admissions and longer length of stay, higher use of emergency and outpatient visits, and greater use of palliative care units within nursing homes than patients in the home care group. The monetary quantification of the use of the above-mentioned resources showed a 71% increase in the cost per patient in the standard care when compared to home care. According to the results of this study, home care teams for terminal cancer patients allow for savings to the health care system. A series of policy making and health services research implications are discussed.

Key Words: palliative care • home care services • costs and cost analysis • health resources • neoplasms • terminally ill

Palliative Medicine, Vol. 15, No. 4, 271-278 (2001)
DOI: 10.1191/026921601678320250
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Palliat MedHome page
A. Johnson, T Abernathy, D Howell, K Brazil, and S Scott
Resource utilisation and costs of palliative cancer care in an interdisciplinary health care model
Palliative Medicine, July 1, 2009; 23(5): 448 - 459.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Palliat MedHome page
Y. Tibi-Levy, M. Le Vaillant, and G. de Pouvourville
Determinants of resource utilization in four palliative care units
Palliative Medicine, March 1, 2006; 20(2): 95 - 106.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Palliat MedHome page
M. Costantini, I. J Higginson, L. Boni, M. A. Orengo, E. Garrone, F. Henriquet, and P. Bruzzi
Effect of a palliative home care team on hospital admissions among patients with advanced cancer
Palliative Medicine, June 1, 2003; 17(4): 315 - 321.
[Abstract] [PDF]