Dear Colleagues,

The Statement linked to below entitled, Core Roles and Responsibilities of Physicians in Hospice Care: A Statement By and For U.S. Hospice and Palliative Care Physicians, will be published as a Special Report in the Journal of Palliative Medicine this spring. It will be accompanied by a list of individual hospice and palliative medicine physicians who have signed their names in affirmation of this Statement. We invite you to add your name to this group.

The Statement responds to concerns many hospice and palliative care physicians have about the frequency and severity of problems that hospice patients and families encounter that put them at risk of inadequate medical attention and avoidable suffering. Recent high-profile articles in news outlets have brought instances of poor-quality care and outright fraud and abuse to public attention, eroding trust in hospice care.

We come together as hospice and palliative care physicians to ensure high quality care for patients and families we collectively serve, and to rebuild trust with the public.

This Statement is intended to complement efforts of our professional associations and serve as a reference for payers, oversight and accountability agencies, and legislators about physician roles and requirements for delivering high quality hospice care.

We invite you to use the form below to add your name to the list of fellow HPM physicians who have signed this Statement.

We encourage you to share the link to this web page with other HPM physician colleagues. Please do not share the pdf of this Statement as it is a privileged pre-publication document.

Thank you for your consideration.

Ira Byock, MD, FAAHPM on behalf of HPM Physicians Concerned About Hospice Care

NOTE: This Statement was originally posted on February 1, 2023 and has been updated on March 3 to incorporate clarifications in wording suggested by careful HPM physician readers. The only change in content is a mention of the need for hospice physicians to ensure that death certificates are completed in an accurate and timely manner. This updated Statement does not otherwise expand or change any of the points expressed in the document.

Core Roles & Responsibilities of Physicians in Hospice Care – A Statement By and For U.S. Hospice and Palliative Care Physicians

Please add my name as a signatory of the Statement, Core Roles and Responsibilities of Physicians in Hospice Care.

List of Signatories       This list is updated regularly.

March 28, 2023 is the final day to add your name!