(Utica, NY – Jan. 2013 The Institute of Medicine has selected an Excellus BlueCross BlueShield physician to serve on a committee of national experts charged with helping to transform the nation’s end-of-life care.
Patricia Bomba, M.D., vice president and medical director, geriatrics, Excellus BCBS, will serve on the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Transforming End-of-Life Care.
Bomba is a nationally recognized palliative care and end-of-life expert who designs and oversees the implementation of community projects throughout New York state. At Excellus BCBS, Bomba serves as a geriatric consultant on projects and programs affecting seniors.
“New York state is ahead of the curve when it comes to ensuring patients’ wishes are honored at the end of life,” Bomba said. “I hope to parlay the successes of New York state into a new national standard that empowers patients, their families and physicians to make and share sound decisions.”
Bomba was the driving force behind a 2008 New York state Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) law which helped to ensure that a person’s end-of-life wishes were followed, whether the person was at home, in a nursing home or in any other non-hospital setting.
Bomba earned a bachelor’s degree from Immaculata College in Pennsylvania and graduated from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the University of Rochester and is board certified in internal medicine, with added qualifications in geriatric medicine.
Bomba serves as New York’s representative on the National POLST (Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment) Paradigm Task Force and chairs New York’s MOLST Statewide Implementation Team.
The Institute of Medicine is an independent, nonprofit organization that works outside of government to provide unbiased and authoritative advice to decision-makers and the public. The Committee on Transforming End-of-Life Care will conduct a consensus study that will produce a technical report on ways to advance end-of-life care, among many others goals.
we have a family member who is in this condition that his body is starting to come to an end, why do we need to complete this form. we already signed a DNR for him, but the hospital is telling us that we have to sign this for to stop any extra meds to keep him alive. please help me in understanding this. my husband and i have signed the form to end our life if we should be in that sought of condition. does this form mean that our wishes can be changed