Survival of Medicare Patients After Enrollment in Hospice Programs
Abstract
Each year more than 220,000 Medicare beneficiaries receive care from hospice programs designed to enhance the quality of the end of life. Enrollment requires certification by a physician that the patient has a life expectancy of less than six months. We examined how long before death patients enrolled in hospice programs.
Citation:
N.A. Christakis and J.J. Escarce, "Survival of Medicare Patients After Enrollment in Hospice Programs" New England Journal of Medicine, 335(3): 172-178 (July 1996); partially reprinted in A.O. Berg, Year Book of Family Practice, St. Louis, MO: Mosby-Year Book, Inc., 1998