Duke University study finds hospice care reduces Medicare costs

San Diego Business Journal, Nov 26, 2007 by Jaimy Lee

The results of a study conducted by Duke University show that hospice care saved Medicare nearly $2,500 per patient.

Information for the study was taken from a 10-year period beginning in 1993.

Laurel Herbst, vice president of medical affairs at San Diego Hospice & Palliative Care, called the study "exciting" because it represented the economic pluses of hospice care.

For short-stay patients, it's always "been a no-brainer" in terms of economic return, she said, but the opinion on long-term hospice care, especially from the results of other studies, wasn't as clear about whether or not it was cost-effective.

San Diego Hospice treats 1,000 patients--adults and children who live in the county--daily while more than 1 million patients across the United States use hospice care annually. Seventy percent of San Diego Hospice's patients are Medicare subscribers and older than 65 years old.

The nonprofit organization's main offices are in Hillcrest and it has 700 full-time, part-time and per diem employees.

From 1993 to 2003, the median hospice stay was 15 days, according to the study. The median stay in San Diego County is 17 or 18 days with an average use of two months, Herbst said.

The study also found that hospice care increased among Medicare patients from 7 percent in 1990 to 30 percent in 2006; $6.7 billion was spent on hospice care by Medicare in 2004.

Similarly, San Diego Hospice has showed a consistent 10 percent to 14 percent increase for the last 10 years, according to Herbst.

She added that the study is significant because while health care reform is "forthcoming," it is unknown how it will affect hospice care.

Send health care news to Jaimy Lee at jlee@sdbj, com. She may also be reached at (858) 277-6359, ext. 3107.