Choosing Appropriate Medical Care for the Elderly

摘要: Decisions about what constitutes appropriate medical care are increasingly necessary in an aging society. Neither patient autonomy, physician beliefs, nor health services research alone can adequately define reasonable for the individual patient. A new framework is proposed determining that involves 4 steps: (1) patients prioritize their goals of (prolongation life, maintenance function, and maximization comfort); (2) physicians assign a pathway based on patient's prioritization (longevous, ameliorative, or palliative); (3) expert panels range feasible interventions each pathway; (4) problems treated with consistent chosen. The system has potential defining by balancing view, physician's evidence from clinical literature.