Medicare patients with cancer often receive aggressive treatment in the field of maintenance care

According to research analyzing the entries of Medicare, many patients with advanced cancer receive potentially aggressive treatment at the expense of maintenance care.

In a study published in the quality of care quality after the end of life among 33 744 ajar medicare. The study was attended by patients with various ethnic origin, at the age of 66 or older who died of breast, prostate, pancreas or lung cancer.

In general, the documentation of claims showed that 45% of patients experienced potentially aggressive care (such as multiple visits of acute care within a few days of death), while in the last receipt of supporting care was low to receive support care, such as care planning palliative, hospice and advanced six months of life. While the care of the hospice increased to over 70% in the month in which the death occurred, more than 16% of patients spent less than 3 days in hospices. In addition, the receipt of advanced care and palliative care planning remained below 25%.

Care at the end of life is still conducive to excessive treatment, despite significant efforts to raise awareness of aggressive treatment in the last decade. “

Dr Youngmin Kwon, Research Fellow, Department of Health Policy, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Access to support care varies depending on the demographic groups. Patients who were older, non-Latin white, had longer periods of survival or lived in rural areas, as well as areas with a lower socio-economic level, rarely received maintenance care.

“In the case of dying patients and their carers, the hospice is often considered a golden standard of living, which can holistically manage the needs of care,” the authors said. “The fact that a significant part did not benefit from hospice care at all or made a hospice care within 3 days of death, suggests that the potential benefits of hospice care were not realized for many patients.”

Discoveries emphasize the need for multi -faceted efforts to optimize the quality of care after the end of life for cancer patients.

“It is key to having clear and fair communication between patients, their carers and suppliers regarding the forecasting of diseases and advanced planning,” said Kwon. “At the same time, the principles that increase access to support and ensure adequate labor power of palliative care suppliers are necessary to deal with structural barriers in high quality care.”