Cost of home palliative care compared with conventional hospital care for patients with haematological cancers in Greece

This study compared the costs of home palliative with conventional hospital care for cancer haematological patients in Greece. The study was a retrospective cost-minimisation analysis using data from the finance department and from patient notes for the period from January to June 2002. A non-parametric bootstrap method was used to estimate the incremental cost between home and conventional care. A sensitivity analysis was also used. The estimated incremental cost was €522 (95% confidence interval: €516-528). This was not substantially affected by varying the unit costs within reasonable limits and remained statistically significant under all scenarios tested in the sensitivity analysis. Our findings show that home palliative care is more expensive than conventional hospital care. Further studies should be carried out to examine the cost-effectiveness of the particular scheme as well as the preferences of patients and carers. © Springer Medizin Verlag 2005.