Standardized Palliative Care Consults Cut Readmissions 18% Among Some Cancer Patients

The study shows that rates of 30-day readmissions dropped to 18% among those who received the automatic palliative care consultation compared to 35% in the control group. While length of stay was unaffected, patients in the intervention group received less chemotherapy after discharge (18%) than the control subjects (44%).

Guidelines from the American Society of Clinical Oncologists call for palliative care to be integrated into standard oncology care for all patients diagnosed with cancer.

“Economically, we face a national crisis as costs escalate exponentially and patients continue to receive non-beneficial and burdensome health interventions at the end of life,” write Adelson and her co-authors in the published study.

“This pattern of care harms the quality of life in a population with little time left to live; we face an urgent need to revise our policies and practices in caring for patients with advanced cancer.”