Five Studies: The Importance—and Difficulty—of Talking About Advanced-Care Planning [PSMag.com]

There is perhaps no other issue in health care that elicits an emotional reaction on par with the question of how we die.

The discussions around “end-of-life care” and “advanced care planning” (ACP) typically concern the treatment we will receive (or forgo) at end of our lives, and often they identify a surrogate decision-maker: someone whom the patient trusts to make sensible decisions on their behalf when they are no longer capable of doing so themselves.

Before this year, any discussions oriented toward ACP had to have taken place during doctor’s appointments scheduled for other purposes—the reason being that physicians are not allowed to bill for time dedicated to discussing ACP. However, these conversations often take time, and forcing us to rush them hurts everybody.

[For more of this story, written by Sarah Watters, go to http://www.psmag.com/health-an...vanced-care-planning]