Hospice care is a reasonable treatment strategy for those cancer patie
nts whose disease process is no longer responsive to standard treatmen
t regimens or who are unable to tolerate the adverse side effects of c
ontinued aggressive therapy. A 1:1 matched case-control study design t
hat designated those patients selecting the hospice model of care as c
ontrols and those receiving acute care as cases was utilized. Data was
abstracted from medical records and financial billing statements. The
difference between total hospital charges plus hospice charges during
the last 6 months of life for the hospice patients ($35,625) compared
to the non-hospice patients ($50,152) was statistically significant.
The hospice model of care may be a less costly option for those cancer
patients where palliation is the objective.