The use of feeding tubes in these patients does not extend life, according to Joan Teno, associate director of the center for gerontology at Brown.

FORBES: For Dying, Geography Can Be Destiny

As Teno and her colleagues note, one patient may spend her final week at home, but her last day in the hospital for pain control.

FORBES: More People Are Dying At Home And In Hospice, But They Are Also Getting More Intense Hospital Care

But Teno tells a much more complex tale.

FORBES: More People Are Dying At Home And In Hospice, But They Are Also Getting More Intense Hospital Care

The important message, Teno says, is that we come to a national consensus for the use of a feeding tube and that patients set down in writing, via an advance directive or living will, what living (and dying) condition they find acceptable.

FORBES: For Dying, Geography Can Be Destiny