Indiana-based Center for Hospice Care (CHC) has revamped its respiratory care program for patients with lung disease after a temporary pause during the pandemic.
Dubbed as BreatheEazy, the respiratory program began in 2011 and relaunched in 2024. The program has yielded less than 1% of rehospitalizations among lung disease patients since last year.
Having specialized training for interdisciplinary clinical team members is a large component of sustainability and growth, according to Chrissy Madlem, director of nursing at the Center for Hospice Care, and the organization’s President and CEO John Mastrojohn III.
“The goal of the BreatheEazy program is to actively manage symptoms, maintain patients in the comfort of their home and reduce hospitalizations and emergency room visits,” Madlem and Mastrojohn told Palliative Care News in an email. “In the future, we hope to expand the services and resources to our home-based palliative care program, Kaleidoscope.”
Home-based hospice patients with primary pulmonary diagnoses are eligible to receive services through CHC’s BreatheEazy program. Collaboration is key to building disease-specific programs, according to Madlem and Mastrojohn, who recommended developing partnerships with hospitals, primary care practices and specialists.
In addition to its recently relaunched respiratory program, CHC also offers other disease-specific programs. The first of these was its cardiac program, HeartWize, which began in 2007 and also recently relaunched last year after a pandemic-related halt. The hospice and palliative care provider additionally offers a program for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients, among other types of programs.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, none of the patients who were enrolled in CHC’s respiratory program visited the emergency room. Additionally, none were admitted to the hospital for symptom management. Meanwhile, only two out of 87 patients enrolled in its cardiac program visited an emergency department during Q4.
“These results point to the effectiveness of the HeartWize and BreatheEazy programs by actively managing symptoms and enhancing satisfaction for patients and their family members,” Madlem and Mastrojohn said.
CHC provides hospice, palliative care, home health and community education services across nine counties in northern Indiana. Established in 1980, the nonprofit operates two general inpatient hospice units, as well as a Center for Palliative Care. All of CHC’s nurses are trained in pediatric palliative care delivery. The hospice provider also offers a veterans program, bereavement services and specialized care programs.
Offering specialized care programs has helped to build awareness while increasing access to quality clinical care, according to Madlem and Mastrojohn.
Balancing clinical capacity with patient demand is an important part of sustaining disease-specific programs in the palliative and hospice care realms, they indicated. Understanding the diverse range of a community’s needs is also key, as is caregiver support.
“Our experience has shown that we are most effective when we maintain a focus on the needs of the patient and family and use an interdisciplinary approach,” they said. “It’s understanding that one size does not fit all. We recommend starting by assessing community needs. We invested in staff training and maintained a primary focus on quality outcomes. We also offer access to personalized care and community and caregiver support.”
