Physician Survey: End-of-Life Conversations Are Important, But Barriers Exist

​Virtually all physicians who treat older patients consider conversations with patients about advance planning for end-of-life care important, found a study conducted by PerryUndem Research/Communication for the John A. Hartford Foundation, Cambia Health Foundation, and California HealthCare Foundation. Nearly all (99%) of the 736 respondents to a national telephone survey said they consider such conversations about advanced planning important, and 95% say they support the new Medicare benefit that reimburses providers for having them with patients. Three-quarters of respondents said the benefit makes them more likely to have end-of-life conversations, although just 14% said they had billed Medicare for the conversations. Structural barriers were found to exist in initiating advance care planning conversations.