In the article, authors Thomas Smith, M.D. and Ronan Kelly, M.D. identify three major sources of high cancer costs and argue that cancer doctors can likely reduce them without harm to patients. The cost-cutting proposals call for changes in routine clinical practice involved in end of life care, medical imaging and drug pricing.
The authors, from Johns Hopkins, recommend that patients with poor prognoses have better and earlier discussions with their oncologists about chemotherapy use at the end of life, as well as transitions to hospice.
“Most people prefer to spend their last days of life at home with family and friends rather than in a hospital, but we still see high rates of hospital utilization in the last month of life,” says Smith.
The Johns Hopkins team says studies show that hospice care improves symptoms, helps caregivers and costs less, with equal or better survival for patients, yet only half of cancer patients use hospice in their last month of life.
Read more on the Johns Hopkins website or access the full review, ‘Delivering maximum clinical benefit at an affordable price: engaging stakeholders in cancer care’ by Ronan J Kelly and Prof Thomas J Smith, online in The Lancet Oncology, Volume 15, Issue 3. An interview with Smith was also published by National Geographic.
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