TOPLINE:
Among Medicare beneficiaries with advanced cancer, 45% had more than one acute care visit, in-hospital mortality, late receipt of systemic therapy, or hospice entry in the last 30 days of life.
METHODOLOGY:
- Historical evidence has shown that patients with advanced cancer often receive potentially aggressive care at the end of life, including late initiation of systemic therapies and acute care use.
- Clinicians and professional societies have dedicated considerable efforts to improve end-of-life care quality in oncology over the past decade, including new quality measures and guidelines. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services began reimbursing advanced care planning conversations in 2016 to promote high-quality, patient-centered end-of-life care.
- A retrospective cohort study analyzed 33,744 fee-for-service…