(Snippets from the frontline)
Hospice care: Follow the money
Two criteria are needed for a patient to go on hospice:
- A terminal diagnosis;
- Two doctors verifying the need for hospice confirming less than 6 months to live.
It does not say the patient should be actively dying (see Doctor’s Diary 2-15-2019). Nor does it say the two doctors cannot have financial conflict of interest (i.e. work for the same HMO or medical group).
There are many honest and reputable individuals caring for those who are at end-of-life. But there are some who profit converting patients to hospice forcing us to raise our antennae worrying about the care rendered to older adults who are ill.
So, if your loved one is a senior with health problems, be on the alert if hospice care is recommended by:
- hospital staff including doctors, case managers, discharge planners, or the finance office;
- HMO or other insurance providers covering your healthcare;
- skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) or nursing homes;
- assisted living facilities;
- board and care homes.
Follow the money if you want to know if there are self-serving financial benefits to those encouraging hospice care.
Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D.
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