Can the United States Buy Better Advance Care Planning?
Authors: Patricia A. Bomba, Salimah H. Meghani
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2015)

Letters2 June 2015Can the United States Buy Better Advance Care Planning?Patricia A. Bomba, MD and Salimah H. Meghani, PhD, MBE, RNPatricia A. Bomba, MDFrom Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, Rochester, New York; and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Search for more papers by this author and Salimah H. Meghani, PhD, MBE, RNFrom Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, Rochester, New York; and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L15-5070 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:We found Halpern and Emanuel's article (1) provocative but not representative of the recommendations of the recent Institute of Medicine report, "Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life" (2). Halpern and Emanuel state that "one of the [Institute of Medicine] Committee's central recommendations, to reimburse physicians for engaging patients in advance care planning, merits careful consideration." To clarify, the specific recommendations around clinician–patient communication and advance care planning focus on establishing quality standards for these concepts that are measurable, actionable, and evidence-based and recommend tying "such standards to reimbursement" (2).... References1. Halpern SD, Emanuel EJ. Can the United States buy better advance care planning? Ann Intern Med. 2015;162:224-5. [PMID: 25486099] doi:10.7326/M14-2476 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Institute of Medicine.. Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life. Washington, DC: National Academies Pr; 2014. Google Scholar3. Belluck P. Coverage for end-of-life talks gaining ground. The New York Times. 30 August 2014. Accessed at www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/health/end-of-life-talks-may-finally-overcome-politics.html on 2 December 2014. Google Scholar4. Bomba PA. Landmark legislation in New York affirms benefits of a two-step approach to advance care planning including MOLST: a model of shared, informed medical decision-making and honoring patient preferences for care at the end of life. Widener Law Review. 2011;17:475-500. Google Scholar5. Compassion and Support at the End of Life. MOLST provider training: beyond the health care proxy: advance care planning for patients with serious illness. 2009. Accessed at www.compassionandsupport.org/index.php/for_professionals/molst_training_center/provider_training on 2 December 2014. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, Rochester, New York; and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Disclosures: Drs. Bomba and Meghani served on the Institute of Medicine Committee on "Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life." Authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest. Forms can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=L15-0135. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoCan the United States Buy Better Advance Care Planning? Scott D. Halpern and Ezekiel J. Emanuel Metrics 2 June 2015Volume 162, Issue 11Page: 803-804KeywordsConflicts of interestDecision makingDisclosureIntensive care unitsNursesPatientsPublic policy ePublished: 2 June 2015 Issue Published: 2 June 2015 CopyrightCopyright © 2015 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...