This week Brown University published their findings in a major study on patient satisfaction and the timing of referrals to hospice. Nationally, 11% of the more than 100,000 families surveyed said that they felt that referal for hospice care was "too late." (The figure was 12.4% for Massachusetts.) While the median length of service for hospice was 26 days in 2005, data from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHCPO) indicates that 30 percent of people served by hospice in the U.S. dying in seven days or less.
More importantly, however, hospice usuage as covered by the federal Medicare program has grown tremednously in the past five years five years. In Massachusetts the number of patinets has increased by 49% between 2001 and 2005 - a good sign that families and most importantly physicians are seeing the benefits of this service - not only for the patients, but for the surviving families. (See work of Nicholas Christakis at Harvard Medical School on this.)
For families who need information about hospice care at End of Life NHCPO has developed a very informative website as a good place to start.
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