In my very first week as a home hospice physician, my mentor, a veteran home hospice doctor told me, “Start a feel-good file. It’s important.” I nodded in agreement, mentally documenting new EHR passwords and the location of the bathroom. I think about the words “feel-good file” often. Honestly, I once found it to be … Read moreThe Feel-Good File
Since 2010, I have been actively engaged The Personal Caring Initiative at Mayo Clinic Health System and I have given a lot of thought to the future of caring for seriously ill people and spent many hours in front of diverse audiences talking about health care and palliative care. Most recently, I have created a … Read moreA Paradigm Shift in Medicine
Drug shortages present more than a few challenges to the EOL community. Many constituencies, patients, clinicians, and the organizations that provide care, are affected. Challenges include consistent symptom management (very problematic when cascading supply shortages compel, what seems to be, continuous drug rotation), potential patient distress (you’re changing my pain medication AGAIN!), comfortable prescribing (what’s … Read moreDrug Shortages
“You have a lot to learn,” he said sternly as the heat in his voice rose and his finger stood tremulously in front of my nose. “How old are you? I demand to know.” This is what my home visit to an 82 year old hospice patient devolved to as I told him that he … Read moreToo Few Gray Hairs?
Thanks to the generosity of the AAHPM’s “Research Scholars Program,” I had the opportunity to attend last week’s annual Kathleen M. Foley Research Retreat of the National Palliative Care Research Center (NPCRC, www.npcrc.org). Each year this retreat brings together nearly one-hundred senior researchers, junior faculty, and trainees alike, in an environment built to encourage mentoring, … Read moreNPCRC Foley Research Retreat Reflections
By Angela Hult, Cambia Health Foundation “If we want to transform something as huge as health care, we have to think big. We need to change the way the people we love are dying.” –Ellen Goodman That’s what Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Ellen Goodman told the crowd at last week’s Cambia Health Foundation Sojourns Awards luncheon … Read moreCambia Health Foundation honors palliative care pioneers
In a recent blog post I wrote about the Mayo Transform conference awarding The Personal Caring Initiative with an iSpot award to showcase our work in providing personalized care to seriously ill people and their loved ones. This initiative includes the development of a palliative care service line, however we have taken several deliberate steps … Read moreThe Personal Caring Initiative: A Transformative Approach to Palliative Care in a Regional Medical Center
Formal training in self-care is relatively uncommon in most medical disciplines. Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM) specialty may be the exception. Grief if left unnamed can be a source of great pain, and as with any wound, if ignored, runs the risk of festering only to cause even greater discomfort and distress. Granek et al … Read moreDiscovering Relief in Our Own Grief
by Larry Beresford The most comprehensive assessment of the hospice and palliative medicine (HPM) workforce shortage, conducted by Dale Lupu for AAHPM’s Workforce Task Force in 2010, estimated a gap of between 2,787 and 7,510 FTEs just to satisfy the current need for HPM physicians.[1] And that doesn’t count the coming tsunami of aging Baby … Read moreHPM Workforce Scenarios 2022: Hoping for the Best; Preparing for the Worst
Since 2009, The Center for Innovation at Mayo Clinic has hosted a unique blending of design and medical professionals to hold a 3 day dialogue, at a deeper level, on innovations that shape new ways of providing medical care with over 8 countries and 21 states represented. There are over 125 businesses in attendance. As … Read moreMayo Transform Conference: Calling Out the End of Life Elephant in the Room