Table 5.

Estimated Treatment Effect on Total Cost for Specific Utilization Categories, by Time to Consult

Treatment: Time of Consultation After Hospital Admission (percentile)	Room and Board		ICU*		Pharmacy		Laboratory		Imaging
	PC Effect ($) (95% CI)	P	PC Effect ($) (95% CI)	P	PC Effect ($) (95% CI)	P	PC Effect ($) (95% CI)	P	PC Effect ($) (95% CI)	P
Any time (100th)	536 (141 to 932)	< .01	−255 (−1,495 to 984)	.69	180 (−259 to 619)	.42	−149 (−228 to −71)	< .01	−3 (−146 to 140)	.96
Within 20 days (97.5th)	351 (−23 to 726)	.07	−696 (−1,757 to 364)	.20	56 (−400 to 513)	.81	−185 (−260 to −110)	< .01	−33 (−174 to 109)	.65
Within 10 days (95th)	123 (−226 to 471)	.49	−624 (−1,784 to 535)	.29	−162 (−542 to 218)	.40	−203 (−272 to −135)	< .01	−53 (−193 to 87)	.46
Within 6 days (90th)	42 (−286 to 370)	.80	−842 (−1,878 to 193)	.11	−253 (−1,313 to 806)	.64	−228 (−303 to −154)	< .01	−73 (−206 to 61)	.28
Within 2 days (75th)	−144 (−1,113 to 825)	.77	−1,162 (−2,133 to −191)	.02	−332 (−651 to −12)	.04	−284 (−525 to −45)	.02	−136 (−283 to 12)	.07

Abbreviations: ICU, intensive care unit; PC, palliative care;

^*For all categories except ICU, the primary analysis was repeated with each cost category as the outcome of interest. This was not possible with ICU cost data because only 11% (n = 111) of the sample had nonzero ICU costs. Therefore, the ICU results were generated instead with an unweighted, unmatched regression for patients with nonzero ICU costs. Sensitivity analyses of the primary analysis show that unweighted regressions typically estimate a smaller cost-saving effect than weighted regressions because the weights compensate for a higher illness burden among PC patients (Data Supplement). A comparison of PC and usual care patients with nonzero ICU costs exhibits a similar difference. All else being equal, therefore, the ICU treatment effect estimates are likely underestimates of the cost-saving effect, but it is not possible to verify with a weighted analysis.