Perspectives of Caregivers and Clinicians on a Concurrent Hospice and Dialysis Program: A Qualitative Analysis

Most people receiving dialysis are hospitalized in the last month of life, and nearly half of them undergo intensive care.1 Although hospice positively impacts end-of-life outcomes,2 patients receiving dialysis are half as likely to receive hospice services compared to the general Medicare population.3 Limitations of the Medicare hospice benefit, which requires hospices to cover the cost of care related to the terminal diagnosis, may serve as a barrier to timely hospice access. We previously described outcomes of a concurrent hospice-dialysis program that allows patients to continue comfort-focused dialysis while receiving hospice.