image: Journal of Palliative Medicine is an interdisciplinary journal published monthly in print and online that reports on the clinical, educational, legal, and ethical aspects of care for seriously ill and dying patients. view more
Credit: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers
New Rochelle, NY, July 17, 2017--A new study has shown that the new Service Intensity Add-on (SIA) payment for in-person routine home hospice care during the last 7 days of life, which was added to Medicare/Medicaid coverage in 2016, could increase visits by registered nurses or social workers during a patient's last week of life. The number of visits, estimated SIA payments, and potential for this incentive to reduce disparities in end-of-life hospice care are discussed in an article published in Journal of Palliative Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Palliative Medicine website until August 17, 2017.
Pedro Gozalo, PhD, Brown University School of Public Health (Providence, RI), Joan Teno, MD, University of Washington (Seattle), and Carol Spence, PhD, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (Alexandria, VA) coauthored the article entitled "Hospice Visit Patterns in the Last Seven Days of Life and the Service Intensity Add-On Payment."
The authors analyzed data from 42 volunteer hospice programs over the 6-year period 2005-2010, encompassing more than 250,000 patients and 2.8 million visits. The average SIA payment for the more than 86% of patients reported to have had an SIA-eligible visit would have been $202.50. This is a 21.6% increase over the average regular routine home care payments received during the last 7 days of life.
"More people will get the expert assistance they need in the last days of life because of this research," says Charles F. von Gunten, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Palliative Medicine and Vice President, Medical Affairs, Hospice and Palliative Medicine for the OhioHealth system.
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About the Journal
Journal of Palliative Medicine, the official journal of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine (ANZSPM), Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians (CSPCP), Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network (APHN), and an official journal Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA) and the Japanese Society for Palliative Medicine (JSPM), is an interdisciplinary journal published monthly in print and online that reports on the clinical, educational, legal, and ethical aspects of care for seriously ill and dying patients. The Journal includes coverage of the latest developments in drug and non-drug treatments for patients with life-threatening diseases including cancer, AIDS, cardiac disease, pulmonary, neurological, and respiratory conditions, and other diseases. The Journal reports on the development of palliative care programs around the United States and the world and on innovations in palliative care education. Tables of content and a sample issue can be viewed on the Journal of Palliative Medicine website.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Population Health Management, AIDS Patient Care and STDs, and Briefings in Palliative, Hospice, and Pain Medicine & Management, a weekly e-News Alert. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, newsmagazines, and books is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers websit.
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 140 Huguenot Street, New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215 http://www.liebertpub.com Phone (914) 740-2100 (800) M-LIEBERT Fax (914) 740-2101
Journal
Journal of Palliative Medicine