title: A hospice-hospital partnership: reducing hospitalization costs and 30-day readmissions among seriously ill adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Inpatient palliative care (IPC) has been associated with numerous clinical benefits. Observational and randomized studies of cost savings associated with IPC provide conflicting results, and the association with readmission is not well understood.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to estimate the influence of IPC on hospitalization costs and readmission rates.
  
  
  METHODS
  We measured hospitalization costs and 30-day readmission rates among 1004 patients who received IPC at two western New York hospitals in 2012. Using propensity score matching, we compared outcomes among patients receiving palliative care with those among 1004 similar adults who were hospitalized during the same period and did not receive palliative care.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On average, cost per admission was $1,401 (13%) lower among patients receiving palliative care than comparison patients (p<0.05). Cost reductions were evident within intensive care and laboratory services. Readmission rates were significantly lower among palliative care patients discharged with hospice care (1.1%) than comparison patients (6.6%), but significantly higher among palliative care patients discharged to other locations (12.1%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Receipt of IPC appears to reduce hospitalization costs among adult western New Yorkers. Furthermore, care coordinated with postdischarge hospice services appears to substantially reduce the likelihood of readmission.
authors.affiliation: 1 Center for Hospice and Palliative Care , Cheektowaga, New York.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Tangeman
authors.forename: Carole B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Rudra
authors.forename: Christopher W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.forename: Pei C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Grant
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000191:economics*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006738:Hospices / Q000191:economics*; D017721:Hospital Costs; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000191:economics*; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000191:economics*; D057216:Propensity Score; D055818:Public-Private Sector Partnerships; D012189:Retrospective Studies