| Theme | Palliative Medicine for Patients with Gastrointestinal Cancer | |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Current Facts on Hospices and Hospice Care in the United States: New Concept on Hospices and Health Insurance Coverage for Hospice Care | |
| Publish Date | 2004/01 | |
| Author | Keiko Kono | Speakers Bureau, The Hospices of the National Capital Region |
| [ Summary ] | A new concept for hospice and palliative care has been recognized in the United States since Dr. Cicely Saunders introduced the concept of holistic hospice care at Yale University in 1963. Presently, the hospice concept is not based on location or even curing the patient, instead hospice care focuses on caring. In 1974 in Branford, Connecticut, Connecticut Hospice, Inc. was the first hospice established in the U.S. After the first Medicare hospice benefits were authorized in 1982 under Medicare Part A, hospice enrollment of Medicare beneficiaries has steadly increased. From 1992 to 1998, the number of beneficiaries electing hospice care move than doubled from 143,000 to 358,900. On the other hand, terminally ill patients, their families and physicians hesitate to withdraw curing and life-prolongation therapies and choose hospice care, focusing on quality of life. To improve physicians' perception of hospice care, medically related organizations have been developing medical students' education related to this field, post graduate fellowships and continuing medical education programs related to hospice care and palliative care. With the advent of the "aging era", advanced hospice and palliative care will be increasingly important. |
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