Hospice officials wish more people knew about services
By LORETTA FULTON
Senior Staff Writer
More people would take advantage of the services offered by hospice care if they knew about it, providers believe.
Even though hospice care as we know it today has been available in the United States since the 1970s, "there is still a void in the public's knowledge and a lot of misconceptions," said David Stephenson, executive director of Hendrick Hospice Care.
But every year more and more people choose to take advantage of the services provided by hospices. A common comment Stephenson hears is "we wish we had known about you sooner."
The Abilene area is served by both Hendrick Hospice Care and Hospice of the Big Country.
In order to be served by hospice, federal regulations require the referring physician to sign a certificate of terminal illness. The certification states that "if the disease follows its normal course," the patient's life expectancy is six months, Stephenson said. "That's the key."
The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 puts hospice referrals under tighter scrutiny than before, Stephenson said, causing some physicians to be more cautious in signing the "six months to live" certification.
"We are getting them into the program for shorter periods," he said.
The reason for the crackdown is abuse of Medicare reimbursement, Stephenson said. A sweeping government inquiry into Medicare fraud has caused local doctors to delay referring patients to hospice agencies for pain relief, often waiting until it's too late for help, Stephenson said.
This has deprived patients and their families of professional help to cope with death in a comfortable setting.
Even so, hospice continues to grow in popularity, and insurance companies are realizing how much cheaper hospice care is than the traditional hospital care, Stephenson said.
Recent analysis shows that for every 66 cents that Medicare spends on hospice care, a stay in the hospital would have cost an additional $1.66, Stephenson said.
Besides the savings, hospice provides services such as in-home nursing care, light housekeeping, chaplaincy service, emotional support, and social services.
Bettie Bowen, bereavement coordinator for Hendrick Hospice Care, said often those services are a godsend to the patient and family.
She quoted from a letter she recently received as an example of the frequent comments she hears: "When hospice walked through our front door, it was like God sent a band of angels."
As a condition of participation with the national umbrella organization, each hospice must offer bereavement services for up to a year after the patient's death, said Bowen, who recently was named Bereavement Coordinator of the Year by the Texas Hospice Organization, which also includes New Mexico.
Hospice offers a number of services, but perhaps most importantly, it gives the patient and family control, unlike a hospital setting, said Stephenson, the Hendrick Hospice Care director.
"That is the focus of it," he said.