Print Article In June, regional newspapers published the final article in a six-part series of an Associated Press investigation into end-of-life care. The article’s premise was how Americans are increasingly treated to death, spending more time in hospitals in their final days, trying last-ditch treatments that often buy only weeks of time, and racking up bills that have made medical care a leading cause of bankruptcies.
It cited that more than 80 percent of people who die in the United States have a long, progressive illness such as cancer, heart failure or Alzheimer's disease and more than 80 percent of such patients say they want to avoid hospitalization and intensive care when they are dying, according to the Dartmouth Atlas Project, which tracks health care trends.
Yet the numbers show that's not what is happening:
The average time spent in hospice and palliative care, which stresses comfort and quality of life once an illness is incurable, is falling because people are starting it too late. In 2008, one-third of people who received hospice care had it for a week or less, says the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
Hospitalizations during the last six months of life are rising: from 1,302 per 1,000 Medicare recipients in 1996 to 1,441 in 2005, Dartmouth reports. Treating chronic illness in the last two years of life gobbles up nearly one-third of all Medicare dollars.
"People are actually now sicker as they die," and some find that treatments become a greater burden than the illness was, said Dr. Ira Byock, director of palliative care at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Visit the link for the full story. http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/ap/us_med_overtreated_final_days
Response titled ‘Cooperative Effort’
After reading the front page-story, "Fighting to the end carries a big price," I was compelled to acknowledge our health care partners throughout the region who've been working with us for more than 40 years to prevent the type of outcome highlighted in the story where the family of a terminal patient calls into question "the quality of life," and the lack of informed decision-making when a life-limiting illness strikes.
As the first Medicare-certified hospice provider in the state, our collaborations with providers such as Altoona Regional Health System, Mount Nittany Medical Center, J.C. Blair Memorial and Bedford Memorial UPMC and many physician practices have helped to prevent thousands of scenarios where patients are given little or no options end-of-life wishes.
Hospice brings patients and families compassionate care when a cure isn't possible.
Palliative care provides comfort and support earlier in the course of a serious illness and is not dependent upon prognosis. Our palliative care consultation works with patients of all ages and their physician to coordinate plans and manage pain while patients receive any desired treatment - at all stages of an illness.
We offer a support system to help families cope, enhance quality of life, address the needs of caregivers and improve communication among health care providers and resources.
Together, hospice and palliative care provide solutions beyond traditional medical care. Most importantly, hospice and palliative care provide dignity at a time when it's needed most.
There is still much work to be done, especially as health care reform poses new challenges to our service delivery. But the central Pennsylvania region is fortunate to have providers working together to prevent circumstances that overwrought the health care system and leave the patient and their family not only with regret but also less than what we all deserve at the end-of-life: a dignified death.
Bob Packer
President/CEO Home Nursing Agency
