National Health Care Decisions Day

April 16th is National Health Care Decisions Day.  When a health crisis occurs, many individuals and families are unwillingly thrust into a situation where a difficult decision must be made, and the values or preferences that would guide that decision were never discussed.  Don’t let this happen to you.  Take time to choose your power [...]

Resources for Health Care Conscience Protection

My thanks to Janet Parshall and Talking it Over for a great conversation today about protecting the rights of conscience for health care workers.  The best source of information that I have found on this issue is Freedom2Care.  Visit this website to learn more about this important issue and to find out what you can [...]

Oregon state registry for end-of-life wishes: a good idea?

Oregon recently launched a state registry for patients who sign a form known as POLST (Physician Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment).  This transferable order set allows patients to give specific instructions on the treatments they would or would not want in certain situations.  For example, a patient may opt for or against resuscitation for cardiac arrest, [...]

Engage with Gravy, then Engage With Grace

I have blogged before about the importance of sharing your end-of-life wishes with someone you trust.  Thanksgiving is the perfect time to have that conversation as you gather with family.  The fine folks at Engage with Grace have put together a slide of 5 questions that will make this process easier.

If you have the gizzards [...]

Chicago Tribune article on "End-of-Life Conversations"

Today’s article by Barbara Brotman in the Chicago Tribune gives an excellent representation of what advance care planning conversations might look like at the end-of-life. Of course, advance care planning can occur at any stage of illness, and does not always have to address things like Do-Not-Resuscitate orders or refusing other invasive measures. It could simply cover what you value when it comes to your health care, and who you want for your Power of Attorney.

The document that is more important than a living will

Have you heard the radio advertisements for legal firms that will send you a FREE living will? Have you heard them promise that if you call now, you can save even more money because they will include a FREE Health Care Power of Attorney? Sounds great, doesn’t it? What they don’t mention is that these documents are already available for free, and you don’t even need a lawyer in order to complete them.

My "conversation" with Rush Limbaugh

Today while driving between nursing homes, I heard Rush Limbaugh talking about the health care reform bill’s Advance Care Planning Consultation section. He, like some other conservative talkers, was complaining that the government was mandating these consultations as a way to usher patients towards an early death in order to save money. In my previous [...]

Reimbursing doctors for discussing goals of care with their patients- finally, a good health care reform idea!

Part of the proposed health care reform bill that I like is the idea to reimburse physicians for having an “advance care planning” discussion with their patients once every 5 years. This is something I do with my patients often, and I have wished many times that Medicare would recognize the value of this skill, and the time it takes to perform it, by offering specific reimbursement for the discussion. Unfortunately, some Republicans are saying that supporting a patient-physician conversation about goals of care and end-of-life options will “start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia”. I disagree.

Where President Obama is wrong about health care reform

I don’t have all the answers to health care reform. American medicine is a complicated web of economic, political, and social factors. I believe that everyone engaged in this debate wants the best health care for the most people; we just disagree about how to accomplish that goal. President Obama’s recent statements about Medicare tipped me off that he is about to damage our health care system in ways that may not be reversible.