Cost of Pediatric Concurrent Hospice Care: An Economic Analysis of Relevant Cost Components, Review of the Literature, and Case Illustration.

Background: Concurrent care enables seriously ill pediatric Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) beneficiaries to continue curative treatments along with the supportive services usually associated with hospice care. Although a few studies have examined pediatric concurrent care, none has explored the economics of this care delivery approach for medically complex children. Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify the cost components relevant for an economic analysis of pediatric concurrent hospice care and demonstrate the use of the cost components in an economic case illustration.
Methods: A scoping review of the hospice cost literature was conducted to identify article focused on hospice costs that were published in the journal literature from 2000 to 2019. A preliminary economic analysis was also conducted using a cost-minimization approach with data from a large mid-Atlantic pediatric hospice provider. We compared costs between concurrent versus standard hospice care for children.
Results: Fifteen hospice cost articles were identified and no article on concurrent care costs. Most articles in the scoping review focused on hospice personnel costs, followed by supplies/equipment, and other. Personnel and costs were higher for standard hospice children compared with concurrent care, whereas concurrent care children had higher supplies/equipment costs. Conclusions: Identifying cost components are critical to economic analysis of pediatric concurrent care. These findings provide preliminary evidence about the difference in costs between concurrent and standard hospice care for children.