The Impact of Community-Based Palliative Care on Utilization and Cost of Acute Care Hospital Services in the Last Year of Life

Abstract

In addition to supporting people to die out of hospital, PCS was associated with reduced acute care admissions, bed days, and costs over the last year of life. The provision of high-quality palliative care in the community alleviates the burden on acute care hospitals and, thus, may partially offset public funding of this model.