End-of-Life Care for Clients

Micah ShilanskiAdvisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.

Following systems and processes make all the difference in end-of-life care for clients.

Recently, on a Friday afternoon, I reviewed client notes outside my working hours, and what I found bothered me.

I discovered that a long-time client (who had recently transferred to an up-and-coming advisor on my team) had been moved to a hospice. New to this situation, my fledgling advisor noted this turn of events but failed to raise the alarm for the entire team.

Being in hospice, my client, Bob, may not make it through to Monday morning, and I couldn’t sit with myself if I had missed one last opportunity to connect, say goodbye, and ensure that his wife, Sue, was taken care of.

When clients like Bob and Sue go through difficult times, my office looks for ways we can deliver high touches to help them. Where advisors tend to step back or shut down, we want to step up and look for ways we can support the caregiver.