Budgetary Impact Analysis: Palliative Care Services in cancer patients from public subsector of Río Negro and Neuquén provinces

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Palliative care plays a central role, since it allows people to live a dignified life providing relief and care until the end. The aim of this study was to estimate the financial consequences of implementing palliative care services at home for cancer patients at the end of life in the public health subsystem of Río Negro and Neuquén provinces. METHODS: A Budget Impact Analysis was developed from the payer perspective. The analytical model, based on a Markov model, allowed to evaluate the financial results obtained after implementing a palliative care program compared to usual care for an estimated cohort of patients who may require care in the health subsystem of Río Negro and Neuquén. RESULTS: The adoption of an organized home palliative care service would produce annual savings of approximately USD 277,000 in Río Negro and USD 569,000 in Neuquén, compared to the situation of not having that service. DISCUSSION: The adoption of an organized palliative care program could be cost-saving from the perspective of the public health subsystem of Río Negro and Neuquén. The sensitivity analysis shows a robust result, which remains the same in all the scenarios proposed.