Senate Panel Learns About End-of-Life Conversation Efforts

The Senate Select Committee on Health Care Consumer Access and Affordability dedicated a portion of their Thursday, September 14, meeting to review community efforts that are encouraging end-of-life conversations among family members.

The effort is being spearheaded by an organization called Honoring Choices, with a statewide campaign titled, "The Convenings." As explained by co-founder Bill Hanley, the intent of the informational effort is to stress "the importance of families having conversations about end-of-life before you get to the bedside."

Acknowledging the importance of those conversations, Committee Chair Scott Jensen, R-Chaska, said, "We are a committee trying to address the bending of the cost curve downwards. End-of-life care in some studies indicate that 40 to 45 percent of dollars are spent on people in their last year of life."

Dr. Ken Kephart agreed, "Study after study shows that patients do, for the most part, want the truth, want the best description of their status and want to have time to have discussions with their family members about goals of care. If that's done meaningfully, there is some pretty good evidence that the value you bring to somebody at the end of life is much higher and you probably save a dime...it's a pretty good value-based decision."