Cost savings from palliative care teams and guidance for a financially viable palliative care program.

Objectives: To quantify the cost savings of palliative care (PC) and identify differences in savings according to team structure, patient diagnosis, and timing of consult.

Data Sources: Hospital administrative records on all inpatient stays at five hospital campuses from January 2009 through June 2012.

Study Design: The analysis matched PC patients to non-PC patients (separately by discharge status) using propensity score methods.