Unlocking the closed door: arguments for open access hospice.

The traditional view of standard hospice (SH) care is that once begun, the doorway toward curative and other forms of nonpalliative treatment is irrevocably locked. We will argue that such a traditional view needs to be reassessed in light of new arguments and data regarding access to these avenues of treatment. We will argue that patients should be supported in their transition from SH to open access hospice (OAH). Open access hospice should be available to all patients because of ethical arguments, patient satisfaction arguments, and costs of care arguments. More randomized controlled research trials need to be performed to study the impact of OAH versus SH. This research should focus on patient satisfaction, cost, and survival.