Bristol Hospice has expanded and rebranded its palliative care program amid rising demand for these services.

The hospice provider on Wednesday launched the Bristol Palliative Care program, designed to support seriously ill patients with chronic or life-limiting conditions. Formerly the Advanced Illness Management (AIM) program, the rebranding reflects the hospice’s enhanced patient-centered services and sprawling geographic footprint.

Strong referral relationships have been an important component to the program’s growth, according to Bristol Hospice CEO Alex Mauricio.

“Our key focus is to have real impact with our referral partners in proactively having goals of care and disease trajectory conversations,” Mauricio told Hospice News in an email. “The providers out in the community have been really great about identifying patients that would benefit from the conversation, and they know through the trust we have built with them that we have the time and want to lead.”

The palliative care program is intended to add additional layers of support for patients and their families alongside existing treatments. Eligible patients include those who are managing complex symptoms and may benefit from guidance and interdisciplinary home-based care.

The program’s service region has grown to include Tucson, Arizona, northern Colorado, Hawaii, Eugene, Oregon and Salt Lake City, Utah. Bristol Palliative Care’s services include care coordination, home-based symptom management and personalized care planning, as well as caregiver and family support.

Patients receive a comprehensive in-home assessment, which includes advance care planning and directives. Also included are ongoing follow-up visits that include goals-of-care communication and development of care plans. The program also provides care transitions when appropriate, helping to facilitate hospice referrals for eligible patients reaching the final six months of life.

The expanded program has undergone a two-pronged strategic growth process since its inception, according to Mauricio.

The first phase was integration of the AIM program, which brought “a ton” of valuable information and insight around patient outcomes, he stated. Seeing the demand and experiences of individuals utilizing the advanced illness management services reinforced that there was a “huge need for this level of care,” Mauricio said.

Bristol Palliative Care is the second phase and “next evolution” of providing “explicit clarity” about the organization’s goals to community partners with an aim to deepen and expand local, regional and national relationships, he stated.

Launched in 2006, Salt Lake City, Utah-headquartered Bristol Hospice provides care out of 73 locations in 23 states. Bristol is a portfolio company of the private equity firm Webster Equity Partners. The hospice provider offers a dementia program, sleep assistance services, durable medical equipment and bereavement care, among other services.

An additional key to the palliative care program’s development was bringing on a national medical director last year, Mauricio said. Bristol Hospice hopes to continue gaining momentum of its palliative care service line, he added.

“Our patient outcomes have been something we are very proud of and [we] can’t wait to lean in further,” Mauricio told Hospice News. “[It’s] really knowing the community needs by engaging in meaningful conversations ahead of time and then finding local supporters that want to deliver on the commitments made.”