• Susan Milena Enguidanos, David Cherin, and Richard Brumley.
• Partners in Care Foundation, 101 South First Street, Burbank, CA 91502, USA. sengui@aol.com
• J Soc Work End Life Palliat Care. 2005 Jan 1;1(3):37-56.

PurposeTo examine differences in site of death and costs of services by primary diagnosis for patients receiving home-based palliative care as compared to usual care at the end of life.Design And MethodsA nonequivalent group design was employed with 298 terminally ill patients diagnosed with cancer, CHF, or COPD enrolled. The treatment group received an interdisciplinary home-based palliative care program and the comparison group received usual Kaiser Permanente services. Data collected included patient demographics, severity of illness, service use, and site of death.ResultsAmong all diseases, patients enrolled in palliative care were more likely to die at home. Enrollment in palliative care was significant associated with cost reductions for patients with cancer, COPD, and CHF. No significant difference was found between diagnostic groups in terms of magnitude of cost savings.ImplicationsProvision of interdisciplinary home-based palliative care at end of life can effectively increase the likelihood of dying at home for patients with CHF, COPD, and cancer while realizing significant cost savings.

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