Multidisciplinary supportive care in cancer: cost analysis

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Health Services Research
• Palliative Care

Background:

• Enhanced Supportive Care (ESC) is an early intervention model for cancer patients with treatable but not curable conditions.
• The ESC model in England emphasizes a multiprofessional approach to patient support.
• This study focuses on an outpatient ESC service within a tertiary cancer center.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the workforce requirements and cost-effectiveness of an outpatient Enhanced Supportive Care (ESC) service.
• To analyze the impact of ESC on secondary care utilization in cancer patients.

Main Methods:

• Collected workforce costs for delivering ESC to 265 patients over 12 months.
• Compared the service's impact on secondary care usage in the last year of life against national averages.
• Utilized data from the National Health Service Digital Secondary Uses Service dataset for comparison.

Main Results:

• The ESC service involved seven professional groups and incurred costs of £125,542 for 12 months.
• ESC patients experienced 1.72 fewer admissions per patient in their last year of life compared to the national average.
• Average length of hospital stay per admission in the last year of life decreased from 9.2 to 4.78 days, resulting in estimated savings of £2,398,537.68.

Conclusions:

• Outpatient ESC necessitates a multidisciplinary team approach for effective implementation.
• The ESC model demonstrates significant cost savings by reducing secondary care utilization.
• Early implementation of supportive care can improve patient outcomes and healthcare economics.