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New rule gives Medicare beneficiaries more control in end-of-life care

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services(CMS) has announced that Medicare will begin paying physicians and other practitioners to discuss advance care planning, effective Jan. 1, 2016.  Advance care planning marks a critical step forward in ensuring that care delivery aligns with individual goals, values and preferences, resulting in better care, higher patient and family satisfaction

Quebec to invest extra $10-million a year in palliative care

Quebec is investing an additional $10-million a year to improve palliative care. One measure that will kick in next April will see the families of caregivers receive $1,000 to help look after their loved ones. Currently, 11 per cent of Quebecers who have chronic diseases such as cancer die at home surrounded by their loved

Our View: End-of-life care talks key part of health picture

Six years ago, a proposal to compensate physicians for talking to patients about their treatment in their last days was stripped from the Affordable Care Act after critics made dark predictions about “death panels” and government rationing of care to senior citizens. Last week, with little fanfare, the federal government announced that as of Jan.

Many seriously ill Americans lack access to palliative care

Millions of Americans suffering from serious illness lack access to care that could improve their quality of life by relieving pain and other symptoms, a study finds. Access to so-called palliative care is greatest in the New England, Pacific and mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S., researchers report in the Journal of Palliative Medicine. Far fewer

Beth Israel pilot to let patients add notes to medical records

Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center received a $450,000 grant from The Commonwealth Fund this week to develop a program called OurNotes that allows patients to contribute to their medical records. The program is an extension of the well-known OpenNotes initiative and will include collaboration with a handful of other providers across the country. “This is really building

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