Doctors

Most patients express a desire to die at home rather than in the hospital, if they are to die.1 In fact, dying at home is associated with higher care satisfaction.2 However, this desire may sometimes be undermined by patient concerns that leaving the hospital would jeopardize the quality of care or that electing hospice would […]

In 2025, the Journal of the American Medical Association Health Forum published “Contemporary Patterns of End-of-Life Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries with Advanced Cancer.”1 In this study, Dr. Kwon of Vanderbilt University and colleagues used the Medicare records of more than 33,000 descendants to characterize how the care patients receive concords with quality measures and guidelines.

“Live discharge” is the term Medicare uses to describe hospice disenrollment before death. In the past, it was common for clinicians to refer to these patients as “hospice graduates.” However, that term implies that hospice is no longer needed. In many live discharges, the patient may not qualify for hospice but continues to need home-visiting

Less Than 1% of Doctors Would Choose CPR for Themselves In Advanced Cancer or End-Stage Alzheimer’s In June, the Journal of Medical Ethics published a landmark survey of physicians.1 The survey reveals that almost all physicians would prefer palliative care over curative treatments in cases of advanced cancer or end-stage Alzheimer’s. Only one half of

Journal of Pain and Symptom Management Numeric Prognostic Disclosure Improves Understanding But What About Hope?   Despite the fact that most patients want to know their prognosis, studies continue to show a high prevalence of inaccurate prognostic perceptions among patients.1 This is important as suboptimal prognostic communication may lead to treatment decisions a patient would

In the United States, hospice care is increasingly delivered in the home setting, reflecting both patient preference and a growing body of clinical evidence supporting its effectiveness. For physicians guiding patients and families through end-of-life decisions, understanding the outcomes associated with hospice at home is essential. Questions sometimes arise regarding whether hospice at home can

Meet Dr. Charles Vialotti. At the age of 80, he lives in a 20-bed hospice facility where he provides 24-hour care for patients and families. His unusual commitment (literally residing on-site at Villa Marie Claire, a nonprofit hospice in Saddle River, New Jersey) reflects a philosophy that has shaped his long career: hospice should be

Physician Bulletins: Below, you will find a sample of the community-based healthcare utilization bulletins that we routinely mail to referring doctors and other healthcare professionals. Medicare has long provided online comparison tools for a range of healthcare providers, including doctors, nursing homes, hospitals, rehab facilities, and more. In August, Medicare added hospice to the list of