Haiden A. Huskamp, PhD led a team of researchers, including four other HCP members (Nancy L. Keating, MD, MPH; Alan M. Zaslavsky, PhD; Yulei He, PhD; John Z. Ayanian, MD, MPP), in an investigation about how often hospice is discussed with terminally ill patients. Their research reveals that despite the potential benefits of hospice, many patients with a terminal illness have not discussed hospice with their doctors. Huskamp et al. looked at data from 1,517 patients diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. These data were collected as part of a multiregional study performed by the Cancer Care Outcomes Research (CanCORS) and Surveillance Consortium. CanCORS consists of seven teams of investigators and one team is based at the Department of Health Care Policy, see link for more information.  

Researchers found that only about half (53%) of the patients studied had discussed hospice with a provider. They concluded that “patients diagnosed as having metastatic lung cancer had not discussed hospice with a provider within 4 to 7 months after diagnosis. Increased communication with physicians could address patients’ lack of awareness about hospice and misunderstandings about prognosis.” The team hopes that this article will draw more attention to hospice--a resource that is currently underused.  

For more information about this article see the following press releases in the Boston Globe, New York Times, Harvard Medical School Focus, and on the Harvard Medical School website.