A Call for Maternalism in Medicine
October 10, 2014
by: Laura Petrillo @lpetrillz After a recent family meeting, I received a piece of feedback from a social worker that…
Atul Gawande, just what the doctor ordered
October 8, 2014
by: Stephanie Rogers @SERogersMD Atul Gawande is expanding the conversation about care at the end of life with his new book,…
Do you think hearing loss is important in hospice and palliative care?
October 3, 2014
by: Alex Smith, @AlexSmithMD Do you think age-related hearing loss is important in hospice and palliative care? We’d like to…
New POLST reflects evolution of how we talk about life sustaining treatment
September 28, 2014
by: Laura Petrillo (@lpetrillz) There is increasing interest around the country in documenting patient preferences for life sustaining treatment, with…
Can Someone with Debility or Adult Failure to Thrive still be Admitted to Hospice?
September 25, 2014
I’m hearing a lot of questions about whether someone with frailty, debility, or adult failure to thrive can still be…
Training doctors to be a little more like cab drivers
September 24, 2014
by: Alex Smith, @AlexSmithMD As it’s early in the year, we usually like to post about some advice for trainees,…
Hey Dr. Emanuel: you might not want to die when you’re 75!
September 20, 2014
by: Alex Smith, @alexsmithMD You may have heard of a new article in the Atlantic by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel provocatively…
New IOM Report on Dying in America
September 18, 2014
by: Alex Smith @alexsmithMD I’d like to draw GeriPal readers’ attention to the new report issued by the Institute of…
Competitive Bidding? Is it really competitive or making it harder for patients to get what they need
September 16, 2014
Over the last few months, ever since Medicare started its competitive bidding process my colleagues and I, in the UCSF Housecalls…
A False Hope: Artificial Nutrition in the Dying Patient
September 16, 2014
My patient was dying and his family was terrified. Riddled with abdominal tumors and engorged gastric blood vessels, Mr. G,…