JAMA: 2009-12-23, Vol. 302, No. 24, Author in the Room™ Audio Interview

Interview with David Reuben, MD, author of Medical Care for the Final Years of Life. Summary Points: 1. When caring for older patients, the conventional evidence-based approach is modified by 3 important caveats: prognosis, insufficient evidence, and patient goals and preferences. 2. Conceptually, the care of older persons can be divided into 3 time frames: short term, which focuses on remediating the current problems; mid-range, focusing on preventive and foreseeable problems; and long-range, which focus on eventual decline and living arrangements. 3. Individual clinicians need to structure their practices to efficiently and comprehensively accommodate the diverse needs of elderly patients.