Hospice Care Kim Lanier

What is hospice care? End-of-life care Provided by health care professionals and volunteers Can take place in the home, at a hospice center, in a hospital, or in a skilled nursing facility

What is the goal of hospice care? To give the dying a sense of security, dignity, and peace during their last 6 months of life Controls pain and other symptoms to make patients as comfortable as possible Also provides services for the family

Hospice care being ineffective? The average time people spend in hospice care is less than a month About 25% of patients are only in hospice care for a week or less This may be because many patients and doctors might put off hospice care On the other hand, it has been proven that hospice care significantly extended the survival for patients with lung, pancreatic, or colorectal cancer

Cost saving opportunities Studies show that patients can save a significant amount of money by choosing hospice care In 1996, a meta-analysis found that the use of hospice care saved as much as 40% of health care costs during the last month of life In 2007, it was found that hospice care reduced Medicare costs during the last year of life by an average $2,300 per hospice user and increased the longer the patient was enrolled in hospice

“All-or-none” One problem with hospice care is that many patients are required to give up certain treatments that fall under the category of disease-directed therapy

Open access model Open access hospice provides treatments that palliate symptoms and enhance the quality of life, even if the treatments are considered to be disease directed This is a risky decision for a hospice to follow due to cost Also, Medicare may consider treatments “not hospice appropriate” and disallow coverage.

Conclusion Although there are some downsides to hospice care, the good generally outweigh the bad

Sources Kastenbaum, Robert J. Death, Society, and the Human Experience. 11th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., Print. "Hospice Care." MedlinePlus. Ed. Donald A.B. Lindberg. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 13 Apr Web. 01 Mar "The Debate in Hospice Care." Journal of Oncology Practice. Ed. John V. Cox. American Society of Clinical Oncology, 01 May Web. 01 Mar