WNYC: "Death Beds: Terminally Ill, But Constantly Hospitalized"
Comparatively, patients in the New York metropolitan region, guided by doctors working and trained at several of the country’s top academic medical centers, tend to opt for more aggressive treatments much more often than other Americans despite the accessibility to doctors working. Hartford grantee, Dr. Diane Meier, director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), is featured in the article.
According to a WNYC radio piece, comparatively, patients in the New York metropolitan region, guided by doctors working and trained at several of the country’s top academic medical centers, tend to opt for more aggressive treatments much more often than other Americans despite the accessibility to doctors working
Chronically ill patients in New York and New Jersey spend more time in the hospital during their last six months of life than their counterparts in the rest of the country — an average of 14.4 and 12.9 days, respectively. The national average is 9.8 days.
The reason behind why chronically or terminally ill patients in the New York/New Jersey area spend more time in the hospital can perhaps be better explained by the culture that has evolved within the health care system rather than the unique characteristics and desires of people in the area.
In the article, Hartford grantee, Dr. Diane Meier, director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), said,“It’s a joke with a core truth that if there’s a cancer it needs chemotherapy, that if there’s heart failure, it needs a procedure, that if there’s a fracture it needs surgical repair.”
To read the full article and listen to the audio recording, head over to WNYC.