The Patient & Patient’s Family want control over their health care and end of life decisions and want to be informed about the options..
• In the US, only 7% want life sustain treatment, but 68% will receive it due to lack of directives – therefore, directives could save the federal program more than $85B annually
• Nearly 30% of Medicaid spending is for treatment during the last year of life – j
ust over $165B, when asked, most patients do not want
• One medical community had 96% of its residents complete medical directives – the cost of care decreased from $26K to $18K (about 30% reduction)
• 75% of aging population thinks living wills are a good idea, but < 1/3 have them
• 25% of elderly patients become in capable of making end of life decisions
• Those that have directives, only 2% wanted aggressive care
• Only 1 in 8 nursing home residents want aggressive care
• The cost of care for people without directives is 55% highly than those with them
• 1/3 of developed nations annual healthcare spending goes end of life costs
