A new report says many patients are not receiving the care they want in the final stages of their lives and are undergoing costly and unnecessary tests, procedures and hospital visits.
Commissioned by the Institute of Medicine, which provides information on health care for the public and policymakers, the report says revamping the end-of-life care system in the U.S. could better satisfy the wishes of patients and families while also making health care more affordable.
A new report says many patients are not receiving the care they want in the final stages of their lives and are undergoing costly and unnecessary tests, procedures and hospital visits.
Commissioned by the Institute of Medicine, which provides information on health care for the public and policymakers, the report says revamping the end-of-life care system in the U.S. could better satisfy the wishes of patients and families while also making health care more affordable.
The report found a mismatch between the more expensive services available to people near the end of their lives — such as acute hospital care — and the treatments they want, which is often less expensive services like home health care and pain management.
The report lists several recommendations to move away from fee-for-service reimbursement and better align end-of-life care with patient preferences. The recommendations include revamping financial incentives in ways that discourage the use of unnecessary services, or expensive services that the patient might not wish to receive.
Another recommendation that has received bipartisan support is to have more payers reimburse providers for discussions with patients about planning end-of-life care.
