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CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, Vol 34, 183-190, Copyright © 1984 by American Cancer Society

Dilemmas of Hospice: A Critical Look at Its Problems

¹ Assistant Professor of Radiology and Coordinator of Radiology at the Clinical Campus of the State University of New York Upstate Medical Center in Binghamton, New York and a Regional Surveyor for the American College of Surgeons.

I would not like to see the hospice concept fail on the basis of cost because our guidelines are too broad, especially when the patient perceived as dying, and that patient's family, need help so desperately.

I believe that the definition of hospice should be narrow. This will facilitate decision-making about the patient's final stages of life and keep procedures and costs trimmed to a level efficient enough to permit hospice to exist and serve where it is needed and appropriate.

We must be given the opportunity to evaluate quality of care, solve some of the moral and ethical problems, educate psysicians to recognize the needs of these patients, and offer a true option for those who need it and can accept it.