Oregon pioneered the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form, which offers patients many more detailed options for end-of-life care than a simple “do not resuscitate” directive.
Swedish Visiting Nurse Services will cease operating in April. The service provides in-home medical care to about 300 home-health patients, about 125 hospice patients and 80 home-infusion patients. Swedish said the service is projected to lose $12 million in this year, which would put its total loss since 2009 at $51 million. Swedish blamed losses on the high cost of wages, benefits and overtime and low reimbursement from commercial payers as well as “productivity issues.”
96 percent responding that they believe enhancing the quality of life for seriously ill patients is more important than extending life as long as possible.
Programs aim to bring palliative care to emergency rooms where end-of-life wishes can be forgotten in the rush to provide treatment.
Public screening of “Serving Life” a documentary about an extraordinary hospice program where hardened criminals care for their dying fellow inmates. Sunday, July 24th from 2:00 to 3:30PM. Free — but space is limited.
Many Washingtonians say it’s more important to enhance the quality of life for seriously ill patients than to extend their lives through every possible medical intervention, Seattle Times health reporter Carol Ostrom writes.
Is hospice being misused?. Although intended for terminal patients, one in five hospice patients receive services for more than six months.
Very ill patients, even when not facing death, can benefit from better pain and symptom management from specially trained palliative care teams.
Hospice care generally refers to care received during the period of time when a patient has stopped seeking treatment for a life-threatening illness or when more treatment is extremely unlikely to prolong life.
Advocates say change may encourage people terminal illnesses to take advantage of hospice care earlier.
Some hospice executives say the poor economy may also be driving doctors to hold on to patients longer.
“…giant step forward in helping patients at the end of their lives…”
LocalHealthGuide is a health news and information web service for Seattle and the Puget Sound Region. We are independent and unaffiliated with any hospital, medical association or insurer. If you have questions or if your group has an upcoming event that you would like us to cover, please let us know by going to our "Contact Us" page and dropping us a note. -- Michael McCarthy, Editor
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