title: A cost-benefit analysis of music therapy in a home hospice.
abstract: Medicare's fixed daily rates create an absolute cost constraint on hospices; consequently, the growth in hospice brings financial pressures. The patient efficacy of music therapy has been demonstrated in the literature and includes improving pain, agitation, disruptive behaviors, communication, depression, and quality of life. Music therapy is well suited to hospice as it addresses the four domains of palliative care (physiological, emotional, social, and spiritual care). In this small study, the total cost of patients in music therapy was $10,659 and $13,643 for standard care patients, resulting in a cost savings of $2984. The music therapy program cost $3615, yielding a cost benefit ratio of 0.83. When using cost per patient day, the cost benefit ratio is 0.95.
authors.affiliation: Kaiser Foundation Hospital, Santa Clara, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Romo
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gifford
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003363:Cost Control; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000191:economics*; D006738:Hospices / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare; D009147:Music Therapy / Q000191:economics*; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000191:economics; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012495:San Francisco; D014481:United States