[Journal article] Medical Cost of Advanced Illnesses in the Last-Year of Life—Retrospective Database Study
26 Oct 2021
Published in: Age and Ageing, 2021; afab212, https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afab212
Summary:
- Average medical costs for end-of-life patients with advanced illness amounted to £20,524 (SGD $ 38,451) in the last one year of life; 80% of which was due to inpatient admissions
- On the average, patients with non-cancer advanced illness accumulated up to 1.6 times more cost than patients with advanced cancer.
- With ACP and close collaboration between inpatient clinical team and community providers, it may be possible to redirect some of the acute hospitalisation costs to community-based palliative care services.