ArticlePloS one2020
Differences in medical costs for end-of-life patients receiving traditional care and those receiving hospice care: A retrospective study.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Methodologies and characteristics of studies investigating the cost of the palliative phase of cancer: a systematic review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Associations between hospital characteristics and the delivery of non-cancer palliative care: a nationwide retrospective study in Taiwan.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- Influence of prior knowledge and experience on willingness to pay for home hospice services: a contingent valuation study.International journal of health economics and management · 2025Article
- End-of-life emergency department use and healthcare expenditures among older adults: A nationally representative study.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2025Article
- Qualitative study on the perception of good death in patients with end-stage cancer in oncology nurses.BMC nursing · 2024Article
- Exploring the effects of acceptable palliative care models on survival time and healthcare expenditure among patients with cancer: a national longitudinal population-based study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Article
- Analysis of Palliative Care Utilization and Medical Expenses among Patients with Chronic Diseases in Taiwan: A Population-Based Cohort Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Hospice vs Palliative care: A comprehensive review for primary care physician.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2022Review
- Hospice Care Preferences and Its Associated Factors among Community-Dwelling Residents in China.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Optimal timing for hospice-shared care initiation in terminal cancer patients.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2021Article
- Inpatient Hospice Palliative Care Unit and Palliative Consultation Service Enhance Comprehensive Quality of Life Outcomes in Terminally Ill Cancer Patients: A Prospective Longitudinal Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Ethical Dilemma: Is it Worthwhile Operating an End-Stage Pancreatic Cancer Patient with Acute Mesenteric Artery Ischemia?Acta medica Lituanic · 2021Article
- Potentially Inappropriate End of Life Care and Healthcare Costs in the Last 30 Days of Life in Regions Providing Integrated Palliative Care in the Netherlands: A Registration-based Study.International journal of integrated careArticle
- Healthcare Professionals' Perspective on Palliative Care in Intensive Care Settings: An Interpretive Descriptive Study.Global qualitative nursing researchArticle
- Medical Costs of Palliative and Hospice Care versus Usual Care in Terminal Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Indian journal of palliative careReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHospice care has a positive effect on medical costs. The correlation between survival time after receiving hospice care and medical costs has not been previously investigated in the literature on Taiwan. This study aimed to compare the differences in medical costs between traditional care and hospice care among end-of-life patients with cancer.
methodsData from Taiwan's National Health Insurance program on all patients who had passed away between 2010 and 2013 were used. Those whose year of death was between 2010 and 2013 were defined as end-of-life patients. The patients were divided into two groups: traditional care and hospice care. We then analyzed the differences in end-of-life medical cost between the two groups.
resultsFrom 2010 to 2013, the proportion of patients receiving hospice care significantly increased from 22.2% to 41.30%. In the hospice group, compared with the traditional group, the proportions of hospital stays over 14 days and deaths in a hospital were significantly higher, but the proportions of outpatient clinic visits; emergency room admissions; intensive care unit admissions; use of ventilator; use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation; and use of hemodialysis, surgery, and chemotherapy were significantly lower. Total medical costs were significantly lower. A greater number of days of survival for end-of-life patients when receiving hospice care results in higher saved medical costs.
conclusionHospice care can effectively save a large amount of end-of-life medical costs, and more medical costs are saved when patients are referred to hospice care earlier.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.