Advancing the Economics of Palliative Care: The Value to Individuals and Families, Organizations, and Society

Abstract

Current research assessing the economic outcomes of palliative care is limited, and policymakers, payers, patients and clinicians need more information to appropriately and systematically implement palliative care in the United States. Filling this research gap can help identify optimal ways to deliver and pay for palliative care across settings as well as strategies to encourage palliative care referrals and uptake. Moreover, projecting future needs for palliative care through modeling and other analytic techniques can inform care provision, future research and, ultimately, policy decisions. In 2020, the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics established an advisory panel to identify and consider how to address the gaps in research at the interface of economics and palliative care. The panel includes clinicians, economists and select participants from health system, payer and policy domains. This background paper, authored by the panel chairs, aims to set the stage for developing a consensus-based research agenda that advances palliative care in the United States and makes a case for funders to support this research.

A palliative care research agenda can help lay the foundation for building a strong evidence base to guide public policies meant to advance affordable, equitable, high-quality, patient-centered care. Along with providing an overview of palliative care, this paper examines the: Growing need for palliative care and increases in availability of palliative care services, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and related health disparities and inequities; Identification of barriers to palliative care; Systematic reviews of palliative care related to health outcomes; Economic literature related to palliative care; Future demand for palliative care, including use of microsimulation models to project demand and related workforce issues.