Is Hospice Losing Its Way: A Podcast with Ira Byock and Joseph Shega

In November of 2022, Ava Kofman published a piece in the New Yorker titled "How Hospice Became a For-Profit Hustle." Some viewed this piece as an affront to the amazing work hospice does for those approaching the end of their lives by cherry picking stories of a few bad actors to paint hospice is a bad light. For others, this piece, while painful to read, gave voice to what they have been feeling over the last decade - hospice has in some ways lost its way in a quest of promoting profit over care.

On today's podcast, live from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Annual Meeting, we invite two thought leaders in the field, Ira Byock and Joseph Shega, to discuss among other things:

• Is hospice losing its way?
• Is there a difference between for-profit and not-for-profit when it comes to quality of care?
• What is our role as hospice and palliative care providers in advocating for high-quality hospice care?

If you are interested in signing the position statement "Core Roles and Responsibilities of Physicians in Hospice Care", click here. For a deeper diver into these issues, check out some of the following links:

• Ira's Stat new article "Hospice care needs saving"

• GeriPal's episode on the growing role of private equity in hospice care

• Acquisitions of Hospice Agencies by Private Equity Firms and Publicly Traded Corporations. JAMA IM 2021

• Hospice Acquisitions by Profit-Driven Private Equity Firms. JAMA Health Forum. 2021

• Association of Hospice Profit Status With Family Caregivers' Reported Care Experiences. JAMA IM 2023

• A shout-out to my NPR episode on 1A titled the "State of Hospice Care"

DISCLAIMER

While we filmed in Montreal during the Annual Assembly, all opinions expressed in this podcast are independent of AAHPM and HPNA, or the Annual Assembly. Furthermore, direction to external websites is not an endorsement from AAHPM or HPNA, or the Annual Assembly.

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