End-of-Life University Ep. 509 A Future Path for Hospice and Palliative Care with Ira Byock MD
Learn about Dr. Ira Byock’s strategic vision for approaching the major issues facing hospice and palliative care.
My guest Dr. Ira Byock is a leading palliative care physician, author, and public advocate for improving care through the end of life. He is the author of the books Dying Well, The Four Things that Matter Most, and The Best Care Possible. He discusses his recent white paper “A Strategic Path Forward for Hospice and Palliative Care” and his 4-point approach for dealing with the current issues facing end-of-life care in the U.S. Learn more at his website and read the paper below:
This episode includes:
- Why it’s important for insiders in the field of end-of-life care to honestly face the current crisis and the grief we are experiencing
- Fraud and abuse is a significant problem in hospice care today
- There is a high variability in quality of care in hospice
- Palliative care services are inconsistent across the country
- Leaders in the field are not addressing the problems in the field
- 70% of hospices are for-profit; profit needs to be tied to quality of care
- There must be zero tolerance of fraud and abuse in end-of-life care
- 4 elements of Dr. Byock’s strategic plan
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Download a Discussion Guide for the white paper
- Check out my Substack: Soulcode – where I share essays on AI, grief, shadow work, and spiritual reflection
- View my new Patreon tier for Soul Supporters and receive extra reflections as a special bonus
- NEW Gift Guides for Caregivers, People Receiving Care, and People Who are Grieving
- Get my two newest books!! Stories from the Dark Night and The Tao of Death
- Get EOLU Podcast Merch here
- Conversations on Death with ChatGPT – Audiobook here; Print Book here
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