Your Crystal Ball Needs Polishing! How to Improve Your Prognostication Skills

Hospice Medical Directors are asked to be part physician, part fortune teller, as they formulate prognoses on patients. As shall be discussed, our crystal balls need polishing! Accurate prognostication is essential to the patient and family's perception of a quality end-of-life experience, and imperative for hospice programs to remain compliant with regulatory requirements. The challenges of accurate prognostication will be discussed, and techniques for improving one's prognostication estimates will be described.