Loading...
Most evidence that palliative care lowers use of healthcare services comes from studies of patients with cancer. The effect of palliative care on healthcare use in patients with other advanced illnesses is less clear. Using clinical and administrative databases, Canadian researchers identified 113,000 adults in Ontario who died from cancer, dementia, or chronic organ failure (i.e., heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, end-stage renal disease, or cirrhosis) between 2010 and 2015. About 48,000 patients who initiated physician-delivered palliative care services during the last 6 months of life were matched on cause of death, age, and other factors with about 65,000 similar patients who did not initiate palliative care services…