Determining Appropriate Guidelines for Enrollment into Hospice in the Severely Demented Nursing Home Patient

Introduction/Objective: The diagnosis of dementia is under-recognized for hospice enrollment. In the past few years, multiple studies have suggested that Medicare guidelines are actually not helpful or accurate in assessing patients for hospice placement (1-6). This study is an extension of the work completed by Mitchell et al (2004), comparing guidelines put forth by Medicare versus Mitchell for the enrollment of demented patients in nursing homes into hospice programs.