For sufferers with distant-stage cancers, there was a rise in early palliative care (PC) billing from 2010 to 2019, however the stage remained low, in response to a research revealed within the Journal of Scientific Oncology.
Xin Hu, Ph.D., from the Emory College Faculty of Drugs in Atlanta, and colleagues examined early PC billing, which was recognized by analysis codes or hospice and palliative medication (HPM) specialty codes on outpatient claims inside the first three months of most cancers analysis or as much as hospice admission date. The research cohort included Medicare Payment-for-Service beneficiaries aged 65.5 years and older recognized with distant-stage feminine breast, colorectal, non-small cell lung, small cell lung, pancreatic, or prostate cancers from 2010 to 2019 with survival of a minimum of six months.
The researchers discovered that from 2010 to 2019, there was a rise within the proportion of early PC billing, amongst 102,032 sufferers handled by 18,908 distinctive physicians, from 1.44 to 10.36%. The probability of early PC billing was elevated in affiliation with treating physicians’ early PC referrals within the earlier yr and organizations’ employment of any HPM specialist (3.01 and 4.54 proportion factors, respectively). There was a decline seen in between-provider variation in early PC from 51% in 2010–2013 to 45.3% in 2017–2019. For between-organization variation, patterns had been comparable.
“Variation across providers and organizations was considerable despite a declining trend in the past decade,” the authors write. “In particular, physician referral patterns and the presence of PC specialists in an organization were key drivers of early PC billing.”
Extra info:
Xin Hu et al, Development and Supplier- and Organizational-Degree Elements Related With Early Palliative Care Billing Amongst Sufferers Recognized With Distant-Stage Cancers in 2010-2019 in the USA, Journal of Scientific Oncology (2025). DOI: 10.1200/JCO-24-01935
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Early palliative care billing up from 2010 to 2019 for superior most cancers (2025, March 17)
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