Virginia Cancer Specialists is rebranding and expanding its palliative care program under the new moniker, Supportive Cancer Care. The Fairfax, Virginia-based private cancer practice is making the change to deliver more comprehensive, integrated support services and help patients better maintain their quality of life throughout the treatment process, the company indicated. Virginia Cancer Specialists hopes […]

U.S. Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have re-introduced the Provider Training in Palliative Care Act. The bipartisan bill would allow members of the National Health Service Corps. to defer their service for up to one year to allow for additional training in palliative care. The corps offers scholarships and loan repayment to […]

Palliative care providers are examining the potential range of impacts following the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) recently unveiled its 2026 proposed physician fee schedule. The proposed rule introduced the new Ambulatory Specialty Model (ASM), designed to improve care for patients with chronic conditions. The new payment model focuses on some of […]

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is strengthening regulatory oversight of certain state-based and pediatric programs in an effort to reduce redundant spending. CMS recently released an analysis of 2024 beneficiary enrollment data, which found that 2.8 million individuals were simultaneously enrolled in Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or the subsidized […]

Massachusetts-based Mercy Medical Center recently launched its new facility-based palliative care unit, an initiative several years in the making. The Andy Yee Memorial Palliative Care Unit opened in May and is located on the fifth floor of the Mercy Medical Center, which is part of Trinity Health of New England. The 5,000-square-foot unit has eight […]

The American Oncology Network (AON), a group of 275 cancer care providers, recently partnered with the value-based oncology enabler Thyme Care to develop a scalable palliative care solution that could be integrated into their cancer care programs. The organizations published their results in the American Journal of Managed Care. The study was designed to evaluate […]

Advance care planning discussions in the emergency department can help increase documented goals-of-care conversations in patients’ medical records. However, this does not always increase patient-reported engagement, a recent clinical trial found. The randomized clinical trial included 141 patients at three participating emergency departments at two academic medical centers and one community hospital in Boston. The […]

Health care providers that are investing in palliative care need to have an effective business plan to support their efforts. The content of these business plans can vary based on setting, such as inpatient hospitals or community-based programs, according to Brynn Bowman, CEO of the Center for Advance Palliative Care. But key elements in both […]

Research conducted in the Netherlands found that a unique dementia advanced care planning model held benefits for families and health care providers but did not significantly increase goals-of-care documentation. The Desired Dementia Care Towards End of Life model (DEDICATED) is designed to enhance patients’ quality of life by improving palliative care knowledge, competencies and interdisciplinary […]

Similar to adults, many seriously ill children prefer to die in the home versus in facility-based care settings. But several barriers are preventing greater access to goal-concordant, community-based pediatric palliative care delivery. The challenges in some ways mirror issues among adult populations such as insufficient clinical resources, caregiver burden or lagging family support in the […]