Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications
Publication Date
12-1-2023
Journal
AMA Journal of Ethics
DOI
10.1001/amajethics.2023.878
PMID
38085990
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Humans, Gastrostomy, Hospitals, Tracheostomy
Abstract
Technology-dependent patients require interventions (eg, tracheostomies, gastrostomy tubes, or total parenteral nutrition) to survive. Such patients are commonly "turfed" between general services or from subspecialty to general services within the hospital. This case commentary proposes several explanations for why technology-dependent patients are particularly susceptible to turfing, including clinicians' lack of familiarity with managing patients' technology, bias and ableism, and quality-of-life quandaries. It also addresses ways to combat turfing of technology-dependent patients and proposes educational strategies for managing common problems in the care of technology-dependent patients.