The authors of a new article in Journal of Palliative Medicine state that the "growing role of the financial sector in home health and hospice, a reflection of larger trends in U.S. healthcare, is concerning and has major implications for care quality unless reforms are undertaken." Click here to read the article now.
Coauthors Lauren Hunt, PhD, RN, FN, with the University of California, San Francisco, and R. Sean Morrison, MD, with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, observe that home health and hospice began as nonprofit organizations with close ties to their communities. However, the overwhelming majority are now for-profit entities, many of which have become targets for private equity buyouts. The authors note that "big business's emphasis on maximizing profit can be at odds with patient welfare. Indeed, a substantial body of evidence now demonstrates that care quality is consistently worse in for-profits as compared to nonprofits," they state.
The authors further express concern that "pressure to achieve high returns on very short-term time horizons may conflict with the need for longer-term investments in quality, training, and staffing, thus reducing care quality."
"The changing landscape of home health and hospice ownership demands both research to understand the impact of these trends on the care of seriously ill older adults and urgent regulatory response," the authors conclude.
About the Journal
Journal of Palliative Medicine is the premier peer-reviewed journal covering medical, psychosocial, policy, and legal issues in end-of-life care and relief of suffering for patients with intractable pain. The Journal presents essential information for professionals in hospice/palliative medicine, focusing on improving quality of life for patients and their families, and the latest developments in drug and non-drug treatments. The Journal of Palliative Medicine is 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), the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) and the Japanese Society for Palliative Medicine (JSPM), and is a global 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 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. is a global media company dedicated to creating, curating, and delivering impactful peer-reviewed research and authoritative content services to advance the fields of biotechnology and the life sciences, specialized clinical medicine, and public health and policy. For complete information, please visit the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. website.
