Essentials of hospice: what every Oklahoma physician needs to know, Part I

Every physician, regardless of specialty, must advocate and facilitate patient access to comprehensive palliative and hospice care as their patients enter the last phase of life due to advanced disease or a terminal condition. Accordingly, physicians must become familiar with both the general and the disease-specific eligibility guidelines for hospice, the different levels of hospice care, physician re-imbursement for hospice patient care, and become knowledgeable in advance healthcare planning. The latter includes an understanding of Oklahoma's DNR law and the Advance Directive for Health Care (Living Will) law. Physician proficiency in the palliation of pain and non-pain symptoms that occur in patients at end-of-life is critical to alleviate patient suffering and to ensure the patient's peaceful dying.