An American Palliativist in Ireland: Learning a Different Perspective on Medical Caring from Across the Atlantic

Saturday, May 2, 2015: 10:45 AM-11:45 AM
National Harbor 4/5 (Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center) - 3rd Floor
Primary Presenter:
Todd Cote, MD, HMDC, FAAHPM, FAAFP , Hospice of the Bluegrass - Lexington, Lexington, KY
The American healthcare system is large, innovative, complex and evolving. Palliative care in the US continues to integrate, with some success, into this ever-changing system. Can we learn from other country's palliative care development? The Lein Foundation report published in 2010, ranking end-of-life care (EOL) across the world, places the small country of Ireland above the US in all areas of EOL care including: EOL environment, availability, quality and cost. This session will be presented by a US-based American palliative care physician who also works in Ireland as a palliative care physician. Through case studies of similar patients in both countries, perspectives and discussion will look at how clinical care is influenced by culture, cost and even geography. Faculty will explore the value in opening more international discussion on how system process can improve, not obstruct, the quality of EOL care.

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the similarities and differences of palliative care integration in the Irish versus US healthcare system
2. Compare and contrast how national public health policy molds the clinical bedside care at EOL in both countries
3. Review a case study of two similar patients and families receiving palliative services in Ireland versus the US


CE/CME: Nurse, Physician and Social Worker
See more of: 60-minute session