The Price of Compassion - Commercialized Hospices and the Mistreatment of Vulnerable Patients

Introduction - Commercialized Hospices We have occasionally written about the rise of the commercialized hospice industry, and concerns that commercialized hospices may not be providing the compassionate care they promise.  As we have discussed before, the hospice movement began with small, non-profit, community based organizations meant to provide compassionate palliative care to the terminally ill.  However, in the US, the hospice movement has been co-opted by commercial hospices, often run by large corporations, which may put profit ahead of compassion.Several long investigative articles have appeared this year that focus largely on the commercial part of the hospice movement:Terminal neglect? - how some hospices decline to treat the dying, Washington Post, May 3, 2014, by Peter Whoriskey and Dan KeatingHow dying became a multibillion-dollar industry, Huffington Post, June 19, 2014, by Ben HallmanIs that hospice safe? - infrequent inspections mean it may be impossible to know, Washington Post, June 26, 2014, by Peter Whoriskey.As we have discussed before, the biggest risk of the rush to commercialize hospices is that it may lead to the enrollment of patients who are not terminally ill.  To try to achieve a dignified death in as much comfort as possible, the hospice movement emphasizes aggressive use of analgesics, including narcotics, and other psychoactive drugs.  Also, hospice patients cannot expect treatments meant to prolong life or cure acute probl...
Source: Health Care Renewal - Category: Health Management Tags: Carlyle Group deception Fillmore Partners Gentiva Golden Living HCR ManorCare hospices marketing private equity Vitas Source Type: blogs