Objectives : The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of introducing palliative care on medical costs of patients with terminal cancer. Methods : Data used in this study were electronically submitted requests of payment to the Health Ins...
Objectives : The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of introducing palliative care on medical costs of patients with terminal cancer. Methods : Data used in this study were electronically submitted requests of payment to the Health Insurance Review Agency for patients with terminal cancer who died over the period of July 2015 to April 2016. The medical costs(total cost and cost per day of hospitalization) of patients who received palliative care, those who received life-sustaining care, and those who did not receive life-sustaining care were compared. Results : The total cost of medical care for patients with palliative care and the cost per day of hospitalization were significantly lower than those who did not use palliative care. The total cost, cost per day of hospitalization, and the number of days of hospitalization for patients with life-sustaining care were significantly higher than patients who did not use life-sustaining care and those who used palliative care. Regression analysis adjusting variables such as sex, age, and kind of cancer revealed that the total cost and cost per day of hospitalization for patients who received life-sustaining care were increased significantly more than those patients who receiving palliative care. However, total cost and cost per day of hospitalization for patients without receiving life-sustaining care significantly reduced. Conclusion : Palliative care not only reduces medical costs for patients with terminal cancer, but also improves quality of life. Therefore, people should be able to receive palliative care early on as there is a growing interest in quality management of palliative care. Key word : Palliative care, Hospice, Life-sustaining, Total cost, Cost per day of hospitalization, Terminal cancer