Costs of Palliative Care in Oncological and Non-Oncological Patients with Different Types of Ambulatory-Based Attention: Cost-Study Protocol

Abstract

Background: Ambulatory-based palliative care is vital to managing oncological and non-oncological patients. Its economic impact on the healthcare and social system has recently begun to be considered significant. It is essential to agree on the cost types, the methodology for approaching and analyzing these costs, and how to determine the burden imposed by this attention on the healthcare and social system. Aim: This study aims to design a study on the economic burden of palliative care (PC) in oncological and non-oncological pathologies in the context of outpatient care (ambulatory-based and home support teams). Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study on the economic burden of ambulatory-based palliative care (ABPC) in three phases is conducted. Phase I: A systematic literature review (SLR) first defines the methodology and data to acquire for costing (results already published). Phase II: The next phase is the piloting of the registration questionnaires for costs/expenses (results already analyzed and presented). Phase III: A cross-sectional study is being conducted to collect data on the direct and indirect costs of ABPC assumed by the healthcare system and patients/caregivers to estimate its economic and social burden (in progress). Discussion: In this study, we create and propose a methodology and extend the approach to the funding of PC in an ambulatory-based context to determine its social cost and provide stakeholders with more information to assign resources more efficiently.

Keywords: costs; non-oncological; oncological; outpatient care; palliative care.

Figure 1

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flowchart of the SLR.

Figure 2

Flowchart of the intended route to recruit and interview patients and caregivers from hospital attention and home care teams. PADES: Programa de Atención Domiciliaria y Equipos de Soporte; IC: Informed Consent (part of the images used were taken from iStock [free images]; https://www.istockphoto.com/es).