Chunhua Lu, John P McQuade, Thomas J Smith, A Rab Razzak
2 Background: In FY 2012, Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM) established a palliative care inpatient unit (PCU). The PCU received patients as transfers and direct admissions. PCUs can improve care (Roza K, et al. JPM 2015) and lower per diem costs compared to usual care (Smith TJ, et al. JPM 2003; Goldstein J, et al. JPSM 2015). This project studied the financial impact of the PCU and PC program on JHM. METHODS: Using one fiscal year of admissions, the team calculated the per day variable cost of pre-transfer in to palliative care (from ED) and palliative care transfer...
March 2016: Journal of Clinical Oncology