Ira Robert Byock (/ˈbaɪɒk/ BYE-ok;[4] born February 13, 1951, Newark, New Jersey) is an American physician, author, and advocate for palliative care.

[3] While Byock's early career focus was on rural family practice and emergency medicine,[5] he developed an interest in the then-nascent hospice movement.

The index was intended to fill a gap in clinical assessment tools, which at the time were mostly focused on physiological indicators or observable function, rather than on subjective evaluations of well-being and suffering.

[6] While among the best-rated instruments in terms of validity,[7] including cross-cultural,[8] the Missoula-VITAS Quality of Life Index is considered better in clinical applications, as a psychometric as well as therapeutic tool, than in research.

[11] During the 1990s, Byock helped to launch and assumed leadership roles in the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine[5] serving on the Ethics Committee (1990–96), the Board of Directors (1990–96), as organizational secretary (1995), and as president (1997).

[26][27][28] Byock is married to Yvonne Corbeil[29] who is a nurse and currently serves as Senior Advisor for the Institute for Human Caring, Providence St. Joseph Health and Co-Director, Clinical Transformation Specialists.