Physicians End Contact With Patients After Referring Them to Hospice, Study Finds

Physicians often end all contact with patients after they refer them to hospice care, according to a study published recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine, USA Today reports. For the study, lead author Anthony Back, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington, and co-authors interviewed 31 physicians and 55 of their patients diagnosed with incurable cancer or advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who were expected to die within one year. Researchers also questioned 36 family caregivers and 25 nurses during the year-long study. Interviews took place at the beginning, middle and end of the study. According study authors, the study was not originally designed to examine physician behavior at the end of patient treatment, but participants kept raising the issue. Back said ending contact leaves patients, family members and caregivers feeling abandoned by physicians (Rubin, USA Today, 3/10).

An abstract of the study is available online.