Hospice Matters for Physicians

End-of-life care news & clinical findings for physicians

  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 10 Issue 4)
    • Geography, Not Patient Preference, Determines Intensity of End-of-Life Care
    • Early Pain-Specific Advance Care Planning and Directives Urged for Dementia Patients
    • Clinical Trial Patients: An Overlooked Population for Palliative Care Delivery
    • Education Video Helps Clinicians Understand Patients’ Faith-Based Views of End-of-Life Care
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 10 Issue 3)
    • Women Far Likelier Than Men to Prefer Palliative Care When Facing Advanced Cancer
    • Surgeons Favor Palliative/End-of-Life Care, but Identify Multiple Critical Barriers to Ensuring Its Provision
    • Major Delays in Hospice Referrals of Patients Receiving Hemodialysis Demonstrate Need for Integrated Palliative Care
    • ‘The Pause’ Honors a Life Lost and the Care Team’s Efforts at the Bedside
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 10 Issue 2)
    • High Hospitalization Rate Near Death, Low Use of Hospice Among Younger Cancer Patients Raise Concerns
    • National Guidelines Updated to Emphasize Cancer Patients’ Needs for Palliative Care and Transition to Hospice
    • Physicians Urged to Take Advantage of Available Instructional Tools for Breaking Bad News
    • Clinicians Encouraged to Use Patients’ Bucket Lists to Enhance Goals-of-Care Discussions
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 10 Issue 1)
    • Heart Disease Now Most Common Non-Cancer Hospice Admitting Diagnosis
    • Trends Track Change in End-of-Life Care: Increasing Complexity of Care Needs, Unnecessary Aggressive Care, Short Hospice Enrollment
    • Rehospitalization, Longer Stays Linked to Unmet Needs for Symptom Control in Patients with Advanced Cancer
    • Advance Directive Completion Remains Unacceptably Low
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 9 Issue 4)
    • End-of-Life Experiences Vary Widely in Advanced Lung Cancer Patients
    • Hospitalists Play Increasingly Prominent Role in Referring Seriously Ill Patients to Hospice and Conducting Goals-of-Care Discussions
    • Neurologists Urged to Address Shared Decision-Making Issues in Severe Stroke Cases
    • Successful Advance Care Planning Campaign Opens with Teaser, ‘WGYLM?’
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 9 Issue 3)
    • Transitions in Care Settings Common, Often Multiple, Near the End of Life
    • Emergency Medicine Physicians Offered Quick Tools for Assessing Patients’ Palliative and Hospice Care Needs
    • Automatic Palliative Care Consultation Yields Substantial Improvements in Quality End-of-Life Care for Advanced Cancer Patients
    • Many Late Hospice Referrals, Wide Variation Found among Practices of Oncology Divisions and Physicians
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 9 Issue 2)
    • Frank Communication with Families Linked to Fewer End-of-Life Hospitalizations from Nursing Homes
    • Physicians Offered Guide to Timely Discussions of Care Goals for Patients with ESRD and other Serious Illnesses
    • Step-Wise Guide to Serious Illness Conversation
    • Hospice Provides ‘Excellent’ End-of-Life Care for Loved ones, Majority of Families Report
    • Physicians Urged to Help Patients with Correct Completion of POLST Forms to Avoid ‘Decisions by Default’
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 9 Issue 1)
    • Most Heart Failure Patients Want to Discuss Prognosis and End-of-Life Care Plans, Study Finds
    • Two-Fold Rise in Ventilator Use among Advanced Dementia Patients Linked to ICU Bed Increase
    • Half of Patients with Advanced Cancer Believe Their Disease is Curable, International Study Finds
    • Pallipedia: Online Hospice/Palliative Care Dictionary for Clinicians
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 8 Issue 4)
    • Factors Identified That Influence Patients’ Desire for End-of-Life Discussions with Physicians
    • Video Decision Aid May Help Heart Failure Patients Make Well-Informed Choices
    • Surrogates’ Prognostic Expectations Differ from Those of Physicians More Than Half the Time
    • Hospice Use in Nursing Homes Results in Medicare Savings
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 8 Issue 3)
    • Burden of Activity-Restricting Symptoms Decreases Markedly Following Hospice Admission
    • Physicians Receive Less Intensive End-of-Life Care than the General Population
    • Dying at Home May Improve Survival in Patients Receiving Palliative/Hospice Care
    • Emergency Use and Admissions Drop Following Hospice Enrollment, But Hospice Stays are Short
    • Physicians Favor Medicare Reimbursement for ACP Discussions
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 8 Issue 2)
    • Hospice Care Reduces Hospital Days across Diagnoses, National Study Finds
    • Hematologists Often Initiate End-of-Life Conversations with Patients ‘Too Late’
    • Palliative Care Initiated in Emergency Department Found to Improve Quality of Life
    • Physician Body Language Varies by Race of Dying Patient
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 8 Issue 1)
    • Prognostic Disclosure Can Benefit, Not Harm, Patients with Terminal Illness
    • Late-Stage Lung Cancer Patients Need to Avoid Overtreatment, Find ‘Delicate Balance’ in Radiation Therapy Near End of Life
    • Caregivers Express High Satisfaction with Hospice Regardless of Patient Diagnosis
    • Poll: 89% of Americans Favor End-of-Life Discussions with Physicians
    • Short Hospice Stay, Hospital Death Yield Low Caregiver Ratings for Quality of Care
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 7 Issue 4)
    • Comorbidities Found More Predictive of Hospice Eligibility than Functional Status
    • Low Rate of Advance Directive Documentation among Heart Failure Patients Prompts “Call to Action” from Researchers
    • Advance Care Planning in Heart Failure: A Clinical Approach
    • Most Physicians Take Responsibility for Relieving Spiritual Suffering near the End of Life, National Study Finds
    • Simple End-of-Life Care Planning Tool Helps Patients Initiate the Conversation
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 7 Issue 3)
    • Earlier Hospice Referrals among Recommendations to Improve End-of-Life Care
    • Hospital Clinicians Identify Patient and Family Factors as Chief Barriers to Goals of Care Discussions
    • Clinician Resources: Having ‘The Conversation’ Can Help Improve Quality of Life for Dying Patients
    • Earlier Support Reduces Risk for Depression among Caregiver
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 7 Issue 2)
    • End-of_Life Care Planning Does Not Take Away Hope
    • Hospice Use Remains High as Median Length of Service Continues to Decline
    • Both Regional and Patient Factors Influence Receipt of Intensive Procedures at Life’s End
    • Few Hospitalized Heart Failure Patients Receive Palliative Care
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 7 Issue 1)
    • Age and Hospital Length of Stay Found to Predict One-Year Mortality in COPD Patients
    • Decision Aids for Advance Care Planning: Potentially Powerful Tools in Need of Validation and Expansion
    • Feeding Tubes Should Be Withheld or Withdrawn in Advanced Dementia Patients, Professional Society Advises
    • Begin Patient Encounters with, ‘Hello, My Name Is,’ Urges Terminally Ill Physician
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 6 Issue 4)
    • Stopping Statin Use in Terminally Ill Patients Found Beneficial
    • Neurologists Offered Practical Introduction to Palliative Care
    • Most Physicians Would Enroll in Hospice if Terminally Ill, But Often Delay Discussing Hospice with Patients
    • AMEN: Clinicians Offered Conversational Tool When Patients Are Hoping for a Miracle
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 6 Issue 3)
    • Patients with Hematologic Malignancies Enter Hospice ‘Late or Never,’ Study Finds
    • Stroke Patients: First Guidelines Issued for Palliative and End-of-Life Care
    • Practical End-of-Life Communication Approaches
    • More Older Americans Complete Advance Directives, Yet Hospitalization Rates Continue to Rise
    • Addressing Timely Hospice Entry for ‘Unbefriended’ Patients
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 6 Issue 2)
    • The ‘Elephant in the Room’: Physicians Urged to Introduce Hospice and Palliative Care
    • Integrating Geriatrics and Palliative Care
    • Many Patients and Surrogates Are Unprepared for Cardiac Device Deactivation
    • Some Proxies Misunderstand Do-Not-Hospitalize Orders for Dementia Patients
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 6 Issue 1)
    • Spiritual Support from Medical Teams May Result in Less Aggressive End-of-Life Care
    • Strategies Suggested for Reducing Racial Disparities in End-of-Life Care
    • Care Delivered to Advanced Dementia Nursing Home Patients Varies by Medical Plan Type
    • It’s Time to Revive the Medical Culture of Care and Caring, Expert Urges
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 5 Issue 4)
    • Community-Dwelling Older Patients Have High Symptom Burden in Last Years of Life
    • Professional Medical Organization offers Recommendations for Decision-Making in Palliative Care
    • Hospital Physicians Offered ‘Structured Guidance’ for End-of-Life Care Planning Discussions
    • Advanced Lung Cancer Patients Hold Inaccurate Beliefs about Benefits of Radiation Therapy
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 5 Issue 3)
    • The Concept of a Good Death Includes Relief of Suffering, Comfort Care, and Family Support
    • Emergency Physicians Have ‘Window of Opportunity’ for Timely Hospice Referral
    • Elements of Early, Integrated Palliative Care Encounters Identified
    • Completion of Advance Directives Urged as Routine Part of Patient Care
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 5 Issue 2)
    • Discharging patients to home hospice reduces risk of hospital readmission
    • Patients and clinicians consider spiritual care important at the End of Life
    • Hospitalization of advanced cancer patients must not be “missed opportunity” for addressing end-of-life needs
    • COPD patients: clinicians offered literature-based approach to discussing end-of-life care
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 5 Issue 1)
    • Patients with heart failure need earlier discussion of hospice care
    • Patient treatment preferences have little influence on receipt of chemotherapy
    • Elderly patients found to use Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility benefit rather than hospice at end of life
    • Racial disparities in hospice use persist among patients with cancer
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 4 Issue 4)
    • Family Members Yearn for Better Communication and Earlier Hospice Care
    • Older Adults Not Enrolled in Hospice Have High Rates of Emergency Department Use in the Last Month of Life
    • Study Identifies Factors Linked to Better Quality of Life at End of Life
    • Early Integration of Palliative Care into Standard Oncology Care Improves Treatment at the End of Life
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 4 Issue 3)
    • Quality Measures for Palliative and End-of-Life Care Endorsed
    • COPD Patients who have End-of-Life Discussions More Likely to Give High Ratings for Quality of Care
    • Aggressive Care at End of Life is Common Among Cancer Patients, But Varies both Across and within Types of Hospitals
    • Relationships between Caregivers and Hospice Patients found to Vary Among Racial/Ethnic Groups
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 4 Issue 2)
    • Hospice Care Report: Median and Average Lengths of Service Continue to Drop
    • Improved Access to Hospice for Patients with Advanced Dementia Identified as Top Priority
    • Surgical Intervention Common among Medicare Patients in the Final Year of Life
    • Heart Failure Patients and Their Families Desire Earlier Palliative Care centered on Both Patients and Caregivers
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 4 Issue 1)
    • Physicians Urged to Ensure Access to Hospice for an Often “Invisible’ Population
    • Time-Limited Trials can Help Patients and Families Shift Focus to Hospice Care
    • Burdensome End-of-Life Transitions Found Common among Nursing Home Patients with Advanced Dementia
    • Having an Advance Directive Does Not Decrease Survival in Patients
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 3 Issue 4)
    • Facing Death in Supportive Setting Improves Quality of Life, Extends Survival
    • Discussing Goals of Care and Initiation of Palliative Care in Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD): ‘The Earlier the Better’
    • One-Third of Tube-Fed Dementia Patients Are Restrained Near Death
    • Lung Cancer Patients Receive Aggressive End-of-Life Care in Both US and Canada
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 3 Issue 3)
    • Determining Prognosis in Dementia Patients Remains Elusive
    • Step-Wise Approach to Surrogate Decision Making Honors Patients’ Unique Values and Surrogates’ Needs
    • American Society of Clinical Oncology Issues Statement Urging Physicians to Integrate Early Palliative and End-of0Life Care Discussions into Cancer Care
    • Hospice Rotation Broadens Med Students’ Perspective on Healing
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 3 Issue 2)
    • ‘Surprise’ Question Found Effective As Screening Tool for Identifying Cancer Patients with Poor Prognosis
    • Patients Who Die In Hospitals have Worse Quality of Life Than Those Dying with Hospice Care at Home
    • COPD Patients Have Symptom Burden and Palliative Care Needs Similar to Patients with Advanced Cancer
    • Optimal End-of-Life Communication Can Give patients What They Want: ‘Truth, Touch, and time’
    • Patient-Reported End-of-Life Preferences Are Rarely Documented in Their Medical Records
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Volume 3 Issue 1)
    • Mainstream News Portrays Cancer Treatments in Overly Positive Light
    • Palliative Sedation: Ethically and Methodologically Different
    • Goal-Directed Interventions to Relieve Suffering Deemed Palliative ‘Treatment”
    • Intervention to Support End-of)Life Decisions via Telephone May Improve Quality of Care and Reduce Medicare Costs
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Vol 2 Issue 4)
    • Patients Involved in Hospice Decision Three Times More Likely to Die at Home
    • Kidney Disease Patients Report Lack of Support for Their End-of-Life Needs and Preferences
    • Medical Students Feel Moderately Prepared to Deliver End-of-Life Care
    • Likelihood of Receiving Antipsychotic Medication in Nursing Homes Linked to Facility-Level Prescribing Rates
  • Montgomery Hospice: Hospice Matters for Physicians (Winter 2010)
    • End-of-Life Care Physicians Share Strategies for Avoiding burnout
    • Conversations with Patients can Reveal What is Meant by ‘I Want Everything’
    • Researchers Develop Scale for Predicting Seven-Day Survival in Cancer Patients
    • Early Physician Communication May Lead to More Hospice Use Among Metastatic Lung Cancer Patients
    • Terminally-Ill Patients at Risk of Undertreatment or Overtreatment of Dyspnea