The Costs of Waiting: Implications of the Timing of Palliative Care Consultation among a Cohort of Decedents at a Comprehensive Cancer Center

Abstract

Early palliative care is associated with less intensive medical care, improved quality outcomes, and cost savings at the end of life for patients with cancer. Despite recommendations that early palliative care be offered to all patients with metastatic cancer, palliative care services remain underutilized.