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Readers respond to last week's metastatic lung cancer case

Case Management Weekly, April 21, 2004

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Several readers responded to last week's case in which a physician
refused to consider hospice care for a 66-year-old woman dying of
metastatic lung cancer. At the hospital mentioned in the case it's an
unwritten rule that a case manager cannot initiate a discharge plan unless
it is first ordered by the physician. The following is what one director
of case management had to say: "First, it should not take a physician's order to start a discharge plan," says Rita Johnston, director of case management at Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene, Texas. "The preferences and rights of the patient and family must be recognized and respected," she says. Johnston advises to "move up the chain of command, and if it's an issue that can't be resolved contact your hospital's ethics committee." For more response from readers and for the "Complex Case" of the month, check out the June issue of Case Management Training Monthly. Visit Click'>http://www.hcmarketplace.com/Prod.cfm?id=2311 for details.

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