title: Hospice care for dying patients: a look at the issues.
abstract: Hospice care for dying patients is an alternative to institutionalized dying that is gaining increasing acceptance. This article focuses on unresolved issues involved in planning for hospice care, including third-party reimbursement, the lack of health planning data, the lack of agreed-upon standards for high-quality hospice care, and the question of acceptance by the medical community. Questions that should be asked before a hospital embarks on a hospice program also are included.
mesh_terms: D001293:Attitude to Death; D006272:Health Facility Environment; D006285:Health Planning; D006738:Hospices / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006752:Hospital Planning; D006801:Humans; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement; D010166:Palliative Care; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000592:standards; D014481:United States