December 22, 2008
Racial disparities in hospice use
An upcoming issue of the journal Cancer has an article that reports on racial disparities in hospice use and how eligibility criteria might lead to those disparities.
From EurekaAlert:
"These findings suggest that the hospice eligibility criteria of Medicare and other insurers requiring patients to give up cancer treatment contribute to racial disparities in hospice use," the authors wrote. "Moreover, these criteria do not select those patients with the greatest needs for hospice services," they added.
The article adds that allowing cancer patients to select particular hospice services, like pain management, may increase hospice use.
EXTRA: YogaBear is an amazing community of cancer survivors, friends, and care providers.
Posted by Staff at 09:00 AM
Category: Cancer; Disparities; Health Disparities; Health Inequities; Pain Management; hospice; racial differences