Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Council Administration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council confirms appointments, discusses MOLST updates, demographic reporting and a possible statewide conference
Summary
The council confirmed most governor appointments, reported progress on MOLST policies and the website, reviewed a required demographic survey from the Secretary of State and explored funding options for a proposed consumer education conference.
The Palliative Care Advisory Council confirmed that most governor and legislative appointments are complete and discussed several administrative items Friday, including ongoing Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) policy updates, a required demographic reporting task and potential funding avenues for a proposed statewide consumer education event.
Karen, chairing the meeting, said most council members are now officially appointed; two appointees named as outstanding were Melanie and Joe Sacco (from the governor's office). Melia (council staff) said the council must submit aggregate demographic data to the secretary of state's office every two years and that she has collected 10 responses to a two-question survey so far. "I will be sending it to secretary of state as a whole package. So it won't be any individual name. It will just be the makeup of our palliative care advisory council," Melia said.
Barb and Tracy reported that MOLST-related policies and training materials are under internal review and that website updates to reflect MOLST changes are nearing completion. "We are still in the process of having our policies and procedures, our training, reviewed internally ... and we also are probably towards the end stages ... of all the updates to the website," Barb said.
Members discussed the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the feasibility of adding a survey question on palliative care or advance directives. Adora and state staff are exploring pathways; one option discussed would limit the council to one additional question. Council members said such data would inform consumer education and identify target areas for outreach.
A council member proposed recruiting national speaker Suzanne O'Brien for a consumer-and-provider event on goals-of-care conversations and advance directives; the speaker's fee was cited as about $20,000. Discussion covered potential funding sources including civil monetary penalty (CMP) funds, hospice agencies, large health systems and partner associations to share costs. Barb noted CMP funds from nursing home penalties are one possible but constrained source for trainings that benefit beneficiaries of those services.
Formal business included approving the meeting minutes and adjourning the meeting. A motion to approve the minutes was moved and seconded during the meeting and the motion passed; members later moved to adjourn and the meeting ended after roughly 30 minutes.
Council leadership said they will follow up with the legislative liaison to complete outstanding appointments and will request brief summaries from coalition leads for the council annual report.
