By Brian Hennon
I’ve seen lots of posts about this and, at the risk of just contributing to the noise, I’m going to throw my two cents into the conversation. Below are two concerns I’ve seen.
Concern #1: The Moratorium Will Delay Patient Care.
While this might be true in some very, very unique circumstances, there are already reasons care is limited in many locations. Difficulty staffing, getting equipment, and medication are just a few. A moratorium isn’t going to make those barriers larger.
The financial component also plays a role. It simply isn’t economically feasible for a hospice to operate in some areas. I wish that weren’t the case because I believe everyone who needs it deserves hospice. Unfortunately, nurses, aides, social workers, and chaplains have to be paid. Doctors have to be reimbursed. Equipment has to be supplied. Pharmacies need to be available for medication.
Where those challenges don’t exist - where staffing can be found, roads are easily traversed, and resources are in abundance, a delay in care is less of a concern. What is a concern is the ability of hospice agencies to keep up with rising costs associated with increased regulations. This hurts compliant agencies more than they do noncompliant ones.
But this is far from the primary challenge, high-quality, compliant hospice providers face.
The sad truth is, people go without adequate end-of-life care every day and the reasons are legion. Chief among them is a healthcare system that equates quality-of-life only with longevity.
A moratorium on new hospices isn’t going to make the challenge of a treat-at-all-costs, avoid-discussions-about-death medical establishment any worse.
Concern #2: The Moratorium Will Make Compliance Harder.
Yes and no.
For those agencies who lead with a “do what is right” model, increased regulation can and does make things more challenging and costly, but those agencies already have the needed infrastructure and people in place that can meet those demands. Not only that, but most importantly, they also have the needed mindset.
Conversely, for those agencies who lead with a “do what makes money” model, compliance will be more difficult.
The hospice agencies who are renting food trucks, bringing in petting zoos, inappropriately admitting patients, and promising visits outside the plan of care, in order to induce referrals, are the ones who will struggle.
And rightly so.
A moratorium on new hospice licenses is good thing. Hospice already has an extremely negative connotation, and when you add rumors of fraud on top of that, getting people the care they need becomes that much more difficult.
End-of-life care is sacred and should be treated as such. That includes ensuring funds are being used properly.