News

The Medical Society of the District of Columbia (MSDC), the largest medical organization in the District representing metropolitan Washington physicians, is pleased to announce a partnership with Compassion & Choices, the nation’s oldest and largest organization dedicated to improving and transforming end-of-life health care. 

Compassion & Choices will leverage its experience as a leading provider of high-quality education for clinicians in best practices on having end of life conversations with patients, guiding those patients through advanced care planning, and ensuring they are educated about the full range of end-of-life options available to them. 

One important goal of the partnership is to bring together the disciplines of palliative care and emergency medicine in order to ensure conversations about life-extending treatments happen alongside those about options for comfort care and pain control for patients nearing the end of life, which can result in better outcomes that help reduce readmissions and lower costs.  

Compassion & Choices is also dedicated to transforming how people live and die with dementia, and it will work with MSDC members to help them understand dementia addenda for advanced directives and how to partner with mentally competent patients in the early stages of dementia to help them choose the care path that is aligned with their values and priorities.

Importantly, Compassion & Choices is also working to ensure underserved communities have access to education and empowerment around end-of-life care so that these patients can advocate for themselves to choose the care that is right for them in consultation with their loved ones, faith leaders and health care providers, with the goal of reducing inequities in end-of-life care.  

“This exciting partnership will enable us to work with physicians in the District to ensure they have access to the latest evidence-based strategies in order to integrate end-of-life planning and conversations into their patient encounters,” said Robert Drake, Director of Medical Outreach for Compassion & Choices. “We are looking forward to working with MSDC and its membership on a comprehensive education program that integrates the full range of end-of-life options in the standard of care.”

MSDC President Dr. Kirstiaan Nevin said, “End of life conversations are difficult, yet necessary, for individuals and their loved ones. MSDC is pleased to partner with Compassion & Choices to raise awareness of their valuable resources across the DC healthcare community and continue to help physicians work with their patients to make the best medical decisions for themselves and their families.”

Compassion & Choices believes the goal of good end-of-life care is to prevent as much physical and emotional suffering as possible. Not aimed at curing illness, the focus is on comfort, dignity, and quality of life. For many, it is reassuring just to know that options exist. There is no one right answer or choice; preferences vary from person to person. Candid conversations are crucial to ensuring patients get the care they want at the end of life, so it’s important to discuss these priorities not just with patients, but with their families and other loved ones and put those priorities in writing whenever possible.


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Media Contacts:
Pia Duryea  
Medical Society of the District of Columbia  
duryea@msdc.org     


Michael Cavaiola
Compassion & Choices
mcavaiola@compassionandchoices.org
 

About the Medical Society of the District of Columbia 
With over 3,000 members, the Medical Society of the District of Columbia (MSDC) is the largest medical organization representing metropolitan Washington physicians in the District of Columbia. The Medical Society, founded in 1817, is the leading voice of medicine and public health advocate on issues impacting the diverse population of our Nation’s Capital. MSDC is dedicated to ensuring the well-being of physicians and their patients in metropolitan Washington. For more information, visit msdc.org.

About Compassion & Choices
Compassion & Choices is the largest and oldest nonprofit working to improve care and expand options for the end of life in the United States, with 450,000 supporters nationwide. For more information, visit CompassionAndChoices.org.