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A Nov. 3 MedPage Today opinion argues that health systems should make advance-care planning routine and easier to complete, particularly as the U.S. population ages and geriatricians remain in short supply. The article proposes asking about patients’ wishes early, helping them record and upload directives, and reducing administrative hurdles; it is an author’s recommendation, not a new policy announcement or study.
A MedPage Today opinion published Nov. 3 argues that healthcare practices should make advance-care planning a routine part of care, as an aging U.S. population faces a shortage of geriatricians. The author calls for clinicians across specialties to help patients document their wishes before a crisis and for practices to make the related forms and processes easier to manage.
The piece, titled “Pinch Hitting for the Geriatricians,” says that although the country needs many more geriatricians, patients cannot wait for the specialist workforce to grow before receiving support with aging-related care. The author argues that primary care teams and other providers can help patients discuss end-of-life preferences and make those choices accessible to the people caring for them.
The author describes a gap in routine practice: patients may be asked to complete many screenings, while questions about advance directives may appear only during a Medicare Annual Wellness Visit. The opinion recommends asking about directives when a patient joins a practice, giving those who already have documents a way to upload them, and offering forms and educational materials to those who do not.
Examples named in the article include a living will, medical power of attorney and Medical Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment, or MOLST, form. The author also argues that processes involving hospice and New York’s Medical Aid in Dying program can be unnecessarily complicated. These are the writer’s observations and proposals; the article does not report new data, a formal policy change or a government action.
Making Patient Wishes Accessible
Advance-care plans can help patients communicate what care they want if they later cannot speak for themselves. The opinion’s central point is that those conversations should happen before a serious illness or emergency, when there is more time for patients to consider their choices and discuss them with loved ones and clinicians.
The author says that unclear or unavailable instructions can leave families and care teams uncertain, and that disagreements may arise about what a patient would have wanted. Making documents easier to complete and find could support more informed decisions. However, the piece does not present research measuring the effects of its proposals, and it does not claim that paperwork alone can resolve difficult decisions.
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A Specialist Shortage Shapes the Argument
The article frames advance-care planning as one part of a wider challenge: caring for more older adults amid a reported lack of geriatricians. It says other medical specialties may attract more clinicians, while the number entering geriatrics has not grown dramatically. The source offers no workforce totals or projections, so the scale of the shortfall is not quantified in the piece.
The author writes from an outpatient-care perspective, describing forms and screenings patients already encounter and contrasting their frequency with the limited attention given to advance directives. The proposed approach is to use existing points of contact with the healthcare system to begin conversations earlier, rather than wait until decisions are urgent.
“Geriatricians are masters of this stuff.”
— The MedPage Today contributing writer
No Policy Change Is Announced
The source is an opinion article, not a report of a new health-system policy, clinical guideline or research finding. It does not specify how practices should fund or staff the proposed conversations, which forms should be standard, or how to handle differences among state requirements and individual patients’ circumstances.
It is also unclear whether any health system or regulator will adopt the suggestions. The piece does not provide data on how often patients currently have advance directives, quantify the number of additional geriatricians needed, or evaluate whether requiring document uploads would improve care. Patients’ preferences can change, and the author acknowledges that plans may need revision.
Practice-Level Changes Remain Optional
The article does not identify a scheduled policy decision or implementation deadline. Its recommendations are directed at healthcare practices: ask about a patient’s wishes early, offer help completing relevant documents, and make existing directives easy to add to the medical record.
Whether practices take up those suggestions, and how they might adapt them to local rules and patient needs, remains open. The author’s broader call is for clinicians and health systems to reduce avoidable administrative obstacles while making time for conversations about care near the end of life.
Key Questions
What is the development described in the article?
A MedPage Today opinion published Nov. 3 recommends that healthcare practices make advance-care planning more routine and less administratively difficult. It does not announce a new policy or program.
What does the author say practices should do?
The author proposes asking about advance directives early in a patient’s relationship with a practice, allowing existing documents to be uploaded, and offering forms and educational materials to patients who need them.
What is a MOLST form?
MOLST stands for Medical Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment. The article names it as one example of a document that may help record a patient’s preferences about medical treatment.
Does the article report a new study or change in law?
No. It is an opinion piece presenting the contributing writer’s recommendations. It reports no new study, law, regulation or health-system policy.
What remains unknown?
The article does not quantify the geriatrician shortage or provide evidence about the impact of its proposals. It also does not say whether any practice, health system or policymaker plans to adopt them.
Source: medpagetoday.com
