Physician-Assisted Death: Scanning the Landscape (Proceedings of a Workshop)
The question of whether and under what circumstances terminally ill patients should be able to access life-ending medications with the aid of a physician is receiving increasing attention as a matter of public opinion and of public policy. Ethicists, clinicians, patients, and their families debate whether physician-assisted death ought to be a legal option for patients.
Roundtable on Quality Care for People with Serious Illness
The Roundtable on Quality Care for People with Serious Illness fosters ongoing dialogue about improving care for people of all ages facing all stages of serious illness. To that end, the Roundtable’s work and activities focus on five priority areas: delivery of person-centered, family-oriented care; communication and advance care planning; professional education and development; policies and payment systems; and public education and engagement.
LibGuide: Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning
The process of planning ahead for the end of life is something that many want to avoid. Although planning for such a time may not be comfortable, it is an important step to help those who will care for you and your affairs. In fact, some people find it reassuring to know that they have prepared a will to direct how their property should be allocated, or a health care directive to tell their family and caregivers about the medical treatment they want.
Planning Ahead and Elder Law
Below are a number of legal tools available on estate and end of life planning. This information is relavant to the State of Minnesota. Factsheets are also available in Spanish, Hmong, Hmoob, and Somali/Soomaali.
Advance Care Planning Experiences Among Sexual and Gender Minority People
Advance care planning (ACP) can promote patient-centered end-of-life (EOL) care and is intended to ensure that medical treatments are aligned with patient's values. Sexual and gender minority (SGM) people face greater discrimination in health care settings compared with heterosexual, cisgender people, but it is unknown whether such discrimination occurs in ACP and how it might affect the ACP experiences of SGM people.
Dying in America. Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life
Dying in America evaluates strategies to integrate care into a person- and family-centered, team-based framework, and makes recommendations to create a system that coordinates care and supports and respects the choices of patients and their families.
Shopping For Funeral Services
Articles in this series include: Shopping for Funeral Services The FTC Funeral Rule Funeral Costs and Pricing Checklist Types of Funerals Choosing a Funeral Provider Buyi
Hospice- Determining Terminal Status; Coverage Indications, Limitations, And/Or Medical Necessity
Medicare coverage of hospice depends on a physician’s certification that an individual’s prognosis is a life expectancy of six months or less if the terminal illness runs its normal course. This LCD describes guidelines to be used by National Government Services (NGS) in reviewing hospice claims and by hospice providers to determine eligibility of beneficiaries for hospice benefits. Although guidelines applicable to certain disease categories are included, this LCD is applicable to all hospice patients.
Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services On Hospice Coverage, Levels Of Care, Coinsurance, And Hospital Quality And Reporting Program
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) offers information to patients and families about medicare and medicaid hospice benefits. General information, types of hospice care and insurance coverage options can be found here. CMS also offers downloadable resources on their website available in Spanish.
Achieving Health Equity
Certain populations suffer disproportionately in the face of serious illness, whether because of race, geography, income, sexual orientation, gender identity, culture, trauma history, or any of the myriad factors that impact patient care and patient experience. Health professionals have a unique opportunity to lead in achieving health equity by establishing trust and alleviating suffering for traditionally oppressed or excluded patients.