People have been arguing about care at the end of life for decades. We now have hospice, palliative care and physician-assisted suicide (the latter is legal in Montana, Oregon, Vermont and Washington), but the battle goes on. The questions are, "What's best for the patient?" and "Why can't we get there?"
Hospital leaders have spent considerable time and energy improving patient safety and quality of care. It's time to take an equally aggressive stance on protecting the technology that touches every aspect of patient care.