Dr. Egidio Del Fabbro, left, with occupational therapist Suzanne Ameringer and a resident (Photo illustration courtesy VCU Massey Cancer Center)
Palliative care isn’t just good medicine, it’s good business, too.
A recent study reported in the American Medical Association publication JAMA Internal Medicine shows that patients with chronic illnesses who receive palliative care are hospitalized for shorter periods of time, and their care costs less if they receive palliative care consultation within three days of admission. Health care facilities save about $3,237 per patient, and save up to $4,251 per patient among those undergoing treatment for cancer.
Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center’s Egidio Del Fabbro is a co-author of the study. He holds the Massey Endowed Chair in Palliative Care and is director of Massey’s palliative care program. “Extensive research has highlighted the value of palliative care with regards to improving symptoms, psychological and spiritual distress in patients with cancer,” he says in a release. “Remarkably, interdisciplinary palliative care appears to achieve these patient benefits and simultaneously reduces health care costs.”
Palliative care is supportive and holistic in its approach to helping improve the quality of life of people contending with a life-threatening illness, according to the National Cancer Institute. The approach may involve medical professionals including doctors and nurses, and also social workers and chaplains, says Brian Cassel, a study co-author and director of palliative care research at Massey. "It's kind of a full-team approach," he says.
The study looked at data from six previous studies, including several from Massey, with records of about 130,000 hospitalized patients reviewed. Those who received palliative team care were hospitalized for less time, and less money was spent on their care. The trend was most noticeable in the patients who were the sickest, according to the release. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and Trinity College of Dublin, Ireland, led the study.
“Hopefully, these findings will encourage health systems to develop comprehensive palliative care services similar to Massey’s palliative care program,” according to Del Fabbro. “This study underscores the need to develop and sustain a robust, interdisciplinary palliative care model.”
Cassel notes that with palliative care there is no reduction in the number of people involved in providing care, but that costs may be saved because of how care is focused on comfort, so there may be a reduction in the amount of laboratory testing that involves poking and prodding, or fewer radiological scans, and a streamlining of medication.
At VCU, studies have shown positive impacts on cost and comfort for patients receiving palliative care early on in the process, regardless of the type of cancer they may be battling, says Cassel.
"We think that any of these patients with advanced cancer are going to benefit from that interdisciplinary approach to maximize their care," he says. "It's really the timing that we are becoming more focused on."
CAPSULES
- A new health care facility opens at 8 a.m. on Monday in Short Pump. Bon Secours Short Pump Emergency Center is a two-story, 50,000-square-foot facility at 12320 W. Broad St. Its offerings include a 12-bed emergency department, a community wellness center and outpatient imaging services including an MRI, CT scan, ultrasound and 3-D mammography. It also will be home to Bon Secours Short Pump Primary Care, according to a release.
- Get your pink on: Pink With a Purpose, from 5 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 13, will promote breast cancer awareness with an event featuring wine tastings, food and shopping at Short Pump Town Center’s main plaza. Doctors Misti Wilson and William Irvin Jr. are speakers for the evening. Admission is $25, which benefits the Bon Secours Richmond Health Care Foundation Cancer Fund. Register here or call 804-287-7508.
