Providence Institute for Human Caring
Providence Health & Services established the Providence Institute for Human Caring and attracted national expert and advocate, Dr. Ira Byock, to lead its formation. The institute represents a major commitment by Providence to accelerate value-based and whole-person health care for frail elders, seriously ill or otherwise vulnerable patients and their families.
Praise from colleagues
Terry Tempest Williams
Author of “Refuge”
Having traveled this landscape with loved ones, taking care of individuals at the end of their life is both a privilege and a tremendous challenge, both physically and spiritually. We need a map. Ira Byock has created a map of compassionate intelligence for palliative care with grace. Through the power of story and his own intuitive sense of what dignity means to the dying, this is more than a manual, it is a godsend. It is also a call for health care with heart, conscience, and consequence.
BJ Miller, MD
Senior advisor to the Zen Hospice Project
This book is more relevant than ever. The country has been primed by more attention being paid to how we die, and at the same time to the ills of our healthcare system. Ira shows us how much better things could be. Not with exotic knowledge or more information, but by doing what we already know how to do. Given the nature of the subject, that means that Ira’s counsel has the power to affect every single one of us. Thrilling and daunting too, I realize, but far better than the alternative! And, thanks to Ira, we have a playbook.
Roshi Joan Halifax
Author, Abbot, Upaya Zen Center, Sante Fe, author of “Being with Dying”
This is an extraordinary and wise book on how dying people can be cared for. Written by a master clinician, a man of great compassion, Ira Byock has a vision of health care that is brilliant and kind.
Recent Media
'The Pitt' on Max
As an old emergency doc, I tend to avoid TV shows about ERs. The Pitt is a worthy exception. About a year before it began airing, I spent an hour by Zoom with the show’s writers room. I pitched them a story I told in The Four Things That Matter Most. Lo and behold, Noah Wyle adapted it for episode 4! Mr. Spencer is dying. Dr. Robby takes time to guide his adult children in saying please forgive me, I forgive you, thank you, and I love you.
Recent articles and op-eds
Core Roles and Responsibilities of Physicians in Hospice Care
A Statement by and for U.S. Hospice and Palliative Care Physicians
Ira Byock, MD, FAAHPM
Journal of Palliative Medicine, May 2023
Physicians are integral members of hospice interdisciplinary teams (IDTs). This statement delineates the core roles and responsibilities of hospice medical directors (HMDs) and hospice physicians who are designated by the hospice program to fulfill core HMD responsibilities. In addition, we describe the basic elements of hospice programs’ structure and function required for hospice physicians to fulfill their roles and responsibilities. Finally, we call attention to hospice program characteristics and circumstances of the work environment that should raise a hospice physician’s concerns that hospice patients and families are at risk of receiving low-quality care.
Hospice Needs Saving
Ira Byock, MD, FAAHPM
StatNews, December 14, 2022
Hospice in America is gravely ill. An extensive investigation jointly published by The New Yorker and ProPublica documented outright fraud, predatory practices, and flagrant mistreatment by specific publicly traded and private equity-owned hospice companies.
Missoula-Vitas Quality of Life Index
Ira Byock, MD, and Melanie Merriman, PhD
Springer Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research, May 2022
Improving quality Improving quality of life is a fundamental goal of palliative care. Meaningful, reliable measurement of quality of life is critical to assessing patient needs and meeting them. Data related to patients' quality of life are essential for clinical research and quality improvement efforts, as well as for assessing the value of palliative components of health services.
Recent videos
Is Hospice Losing Its Way: A Podcast With Ira Byock and Joseph Shega
In November of 2022, Ava Kofman published a piece in the New Yorker titled “How Hospice Became a For-Profit Hustle.” Some viewed this piece as an affront to the amazing work hospice does for those approaching the end of their lives by cherry picking stories of a few bad actors to paint hospice is a bad light. For others, this piece, while painful to read, gave voice to what they have been feeling over the last decade – hospice has in some ways lost its way in a quest of promoting profit over care.
On today’s podcast, live from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Annual Meeting (Montreal, Feb 2023), we invited two thought leaders in the field, Ira Byock and Joseph Shega for a frank discussion.
End of Life University
Ep. 387 How to Save Hospice with Ira Byock MD, January 23, 2023
Real Talk about Life and Death
Host: Dr. Karen Wyatt
Learn about some positive steps that are needed to heal the current hospice industry in the U.S. and how your story can make a difference.
We discuss his recent essay opinion piece published in STAT online: “Hospice Care Needs Saving,” which is a response to the November 2022 Propublica/New Yorker article How the Visionary Hospice Movement Became a For-Profit Hustle.
From Scratch - A Discussion on Loss with Dr. Ira Byock and Tembi Locke
The Institute for Human Caring, May 15, 2022
Dr. Ira Byock in conversation with Tembi Locke, actress and author, about Sicily and pesto, life and loss.
Winner of the Bronze Telly Award for 2022.
Caring Well through the End of Life - Lessons from the Pandemic
The Institute for Human Caring, April 14, 2022
Drs. Ira Byock and Matthew Gonzales deliver a presentation on how the Institute for Human Caring made healthcare more personal during the COVID pandemic.
A Conversation about Covid-19 and Life with Dr. Ira Byock
The Salome Institute of Jungian, April 16, 2020In this conversation with Palliative Care pioneer and author, Dr. Ira Byock, we learn about the value of mortality and what we can do in this global health crisis to deepen our relationships and take care of some logistical loose ends. He is joined in conversation by his daughter, Salome Institute director, Satya Doyle Byock April 16th, 2020