About End-of-LifeCare

Dying patients arehappier,less depressed,have less pain and survive longer when their end-of-lifecare wishes are known and followed,researchers report.

This type ofpatient-centered care can also help keep health costs down________(51)patientswho don't want aggressive treatment,the Universityof California,Los Angeles

(UCLA) research teamsaid.

"You canimprove care while________(52)cost by making sure that everything you do iscentered on what the patients want,what his or her specific goals are andtailor a

treatment plan toensure we_________(53)the specific care he or she wants,"Dr. JonathanBergman,a clinical scholar and fellow in the urology department,said in auniversity

news release.

__________(54)manycases,dying patients are given aggressive treatments that don't help themand_________(55)higher costs.

Patients whowant__________(56)care should receive it,but many don't want it and haven'tbeen_________(57)about their wishes,according to Bergman and colleagues,who

are testingpatient-centered care__________(58)cancer patients.

To change thesituation,doctors need to be educated about patient-centered care,theresearchers said. They also_________(59)that changes to Medicare should be

considered.But thisis a highly controversial topic that has been sidelined after recent suggestedchanges were characterized as creating"death panels".

"Given thedisproportionate cost of care at the very________(60)of life,the issue shouldbe revisited,"Bergman and colleagues wrote."We should address goalsof care,not

to___________(61)aggressivecare to those who want it,but to ensure that we deliver aggressive care only tothose who__________(62).This reduces costs and improves

outcomes."

The study authorsnoted that,according to the results of a 2004 study,30 percent of Medicaredollars are________(63)on the 5 percent of beneficiaries who die each year,and

one-third of thecosts in the final year of life_________(64)during the final month.

Previous researchhas shown that patient-centered care can reduce the costs in the last week oflife________(65)36 percent and that patients who receive such care are less

likely to die in anintensive care unit.

_________(63)

A.spent

B.cost

C.wasted

D.got