title: The cost of home hospice care for terminal patients in Israel.
abstract: This study examined and compared the cost of care provided to terminal metastatic cancer patients by home hospices and by conventional health services. The study population included 146 patients with metastatic cancer. Half received home hospice services, and the other half received conventional services. The average overall per-patient cost of care was, respectively, $4761 (operating costs included) and $12 434. On average, the costs were lower for older patients. A multiple regression analysis revealed that treatment units per patient, care framework, and patient age significantly contributed to explaining the cost variance. The findings suggest a financial advantage for home hospice care for terminal patients. This should be investigated further, as should the cost of informal caregivers and patient and caregiver satisfaction with the quality of care in both frameworks.
authors.affiliation: Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute, JDC Hill, Jerusalem 91037, Israel.
authors.forename: Yitschak
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shnoor
authors.forename: Mali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Szlaifer
authors.forename: Amitai S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Aoberman
authors.forename: Netta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bentur
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003363:Cost Control; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000191:economics*; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000191:economics*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000628:therapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012189:Retrospective Studies