“Rehabbed to Death”: Bringing More Palliative, Hospice Care to SNFs

The article “‘Rehabbed to Death’: Bringing More Palliative, Hospice Care to SNFs,” published by Hospice News, explores how seriously ill patients in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) are often funneled into repeated short-term rehabilitation stays even when recovery is unlikely. Of course, they are endorsing more hospice services.

Drawing on research from the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the article argues that current payment structures and care defaults tend to prioritize rehabilitative therapy over palliative or hospice care, leading many frail or terminally ill patients to cycle between hospitals and SNFs without meaningful improvement.

This pattern can result in unnecessary hospitalizations, emotional strain on families, and diminished quality of life in patients’ final months. The piece suggests that better use of the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM), earlier goals-of-care conversations upon SNF admission, and stronger integration of palliative and hospice services within nursing facilities could help shift care toward comfort, dignity, and alignment with patient preferences rather than continued, and often futile, rehabilitation efforts.