The study, which will appear in the August issue of The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, evaluated hospice use in U.S. nursing homes between 1999 and 2006. It found the typical treatment time has increased from 46 to 93 days. The researchers cited a standard daily payment rate for most Medicare hospice enrollment days as an incentive for some of the longer stays.
Many people, lay, beleive hospice is a time to just give up on their loved ones. This finding of treatment time increase shows this is not always, as many of us already know, the case. Some education to families are vital.