Improving patient outcomes

As a professional trained to treat and heal, it may be challenging to consider a terminal patient as having a good outcome. Yet, expert care from Hospice of the Panhandle can improve life’s final months by keeping the patient comfortable at home, relieving emotional and spiritual distress, empowering a higher quality of life and even supporting what families call a “good death.”

In fact, studies have shown that patients on hospice care lived an average of 29 days longer than those with the same or similar conditions without hospice care. According to the latest available Medicare data, nearly 7 percent of patients on hospice care were discharged upon re-evaluation concluding they had longer than six months to live after having their symptoms well-managed.

Data also shows, unfortunately, that the median length of service for hospice patients is only 24 days out of an available 180-day benefit from Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance companies. The sooner you refer patients to Hospice of the Panhandle, the more we can do to manage pain and other symptoms, improve quality of life, and provide care that receives high satisfaction scores from patients and families.