Patients and clinicians can benefit from having palliative care consults available in hospital emergency departments, though currently few providers have done so. Populations who most need palliative care are often chronically ill seniors with complex health conditions. Between 2014 and 2017, these patients accounted for more than 20% of all emergency department (ED) visits in […]

Programs that integrate both palliative care and home-based primary care are proving effective at improving patients’ quality of life and reducing health care costs. Combining and coordinating those two forms of care can also allow a palliative care provider to access patients sooner as well as offer a more comprehensive suite of services, according to […]

To ensure smooth care transitions for patients with serious illnesses, palliative providers must tread carefully, collaborating not only with patients and their families but also with other health care providers and community resources to provide holistic support. These types of collaborations help to maintain patient safety, quality and continuity of care, and help ensure that […]

Oncology practices have increasingly collaborated with palliative care providers — or built their own service lines — to better support cancer patients throughout their health care journeys. Cancer patients can benefit from the interdisciplinary support of a palliative care team, but a main barrier to access is that oncology clinicians often lack insight around these […]

The emotional toll of caring for the seriously ill contributes to high rates of burnout among palliative care workers. Burnout is a state of complete mental, physical and emotional exhaustion. Symptoms of burnout can include depression, compassion fatigue, stress and anxiety, and apathy, both in general life and towards work tasks. For palliative care clinicians, […]

Depending on how stakeholders play their cards, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) updated risk adjustment policy could lead to tightened belts — or a golden opportunity — for palliative care providers in Medicare Advantage. Much of the palliative care delivered to U.S. patients is now reimbursed through risk-based models like Medicare […]

Reimbursement pressures, workforce strains and lagging awareness represent pain points preventing greater utilization of palliative care. These factors can weigh even heavier on access and quality of life for seriously ill children and their families in need of these services. The road to pediatric palliative care can be filled with many barriers for patients and […]

Connecticut-based Stamford Health has relaunched an enhanced version of its shuttered palliative care program. The health system’s revamped service line will be available to all patients seen at its Carl & Dorothy Bennett Cancer Center. While in its original incarnation the palliative care program was offered only to inpatients, the center will now provide that […]

Rooted in the power of storytelling and fueled by a desire to improve health equity and foster meaningful connections, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center’s innovative palliative care approach has earned industry-wide acclaim. “We take care of folks who are seriously ill, sometimes at the end of life … and the way I see it is […]

Nashville-headquartered Thyme Care recently secured $60 million in funding to expand its health services for cancer patients, including palliative care and programs to address social determinants. The value-based oncology provider has a team of nurses and care professionals that support roughly 3,000 patients and families navigating cancer and serious illness. The funding round will allow […]