PHarmacist Avoidance or Reductions in Medical Costs in PALLiative Care Inpatient Services: PHARM-PALL.

StudyJournal of palliative medicine· Aug 2026

PHarmacist Avoidance or Reductions in Medical Costs in PALLiative Care Inpatient Services: PHARM-PALL.

Celena Wilson, Jennifer Ku

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Palliative & End-of-LifeStudyClinical practiceQ2IF 1.4

Palliative care pharmacist interventions linked to $2.68 million annualized cost avoidance

PHarmacist Avoidance or Reductions in Medical Costs in PALLiative Care Inpatient Services: PHARM-PALL.

Celena Wilson, Jennifer Ku

Journal of palliative medicine · Aug 2026 · Q2 in General Medicine

Background

Inpatient palliative care (palliative care) pharmacists have been shown to improve clinical and team outcomes.

Purpose

To quantify the cost avoidance (cost avoidance) associated with a full-time inpatient palliative care pharmacist based on clinical interventions.

Methods

A retrospective review was conducted at two community hospitals for palliative care pharmacist interventions from January 2024 through June 2024.

n = 398 patients

$2.68 million

Results

$2.68 million

pharmacist input avoided costs at roughly 21 times its own salary

n = 398 patients

More results

The palliative care pharmacist performed 1015 interventions, 698 of which were accepted.

The average cost avoidance was $11,935 per palliative care pharmacist shift, $1,915 per accepted intervention, and $3,359 per patient (398 patients).

The potential monetary cost avoidance-to-pharmacist salary ratio was 21:1.

“

Conclusion

A palliative care pharmacist may help avoid significant health care costs, particularly in the areas of deprescribing, identifying untreated indications, and using palliative care expertise to make therapeutic recommendations.

PHarmacist Avoidance or Reductions in Medical Costs in PALLiative Care Inpatient Services: PHARM-PALL.

PHarmacist Avoidance or Reductions in Medical Costs in PALLiative Care Inpatient Services: PHARM-PALL.

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