Recent research has tied nurses’ insufficient knowledge of palliative care to underutilization of those services in various countries worldwide. Researchers from the School of Nursing at Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Guang’an Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine’s director office recently performed a systematic review of various studies throughout the globe that examined nurses’ […]

Palliative care providers may have untapped areas of potential when it comes to improving access and quality through services that address social determinants of health. Though social determinants can take time and resources to build into palliative care programs, they come with a strong return on investment, according to Dr. Yaquta Patni, wound care and […]

For the time being, Medicare Advantage may be providers’ best bet for palliative care reimbursement. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also allows Medicare Advantage plans to cover palliative care as a supplemental benefit. In addition, the agency has integrated palliative care components into the Value-Based Insurance Design Model (VBID), often called […]

The PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center is resuming its outpatient palliative care program after shutting it down in May. The Washington state-based hospital health system ended the program due to a lack of sufficient reimbursement. The decision sparked outcries in some communities, including donors who in 2018 contributed a combined $2 million to launch the […]

Recent research looking at palliative care patients in Canada has found higher hospital mortality rates among those without cancer compared to others. The trend reflects others taking shape in the United States. The odds of dying in a hospital were 1.24 times higher among 1,822 patients without cancer who received palliative care services at an […]

People living with a neurological illness often face a long and painful road. Many neurological illnesses, such as dementia, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s, are progressive illnesses that come with a number of additional symptoms, from pain to depression. In recent years, more neurologists are realizing the need for specialized palliative care for this population. Three years […]

A lack of trust and cultural competence are two factors fueling disparities in advance care planning and palliative care among underserved African American communities. Black populations have long-faced a history of racism that has affected the ways they access and receive care, according to a recent study. This has contributed to widespread mistrust of the […]

Though relatively few home health agencies provide palliative care, those providers and their patients can benefit from more integration of those services. Currently, the palliative care space is dominated by hospices and health systems. Only 7% of community-based palliative care programs are operated by home health organizations, compared to about 50% for hospices, according to […]

Negotiations around Amedisys Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AMED) Contessa subsidiary were a significant contributor to the pendulum swing that led to the company’s acquisition by UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) Optum rather than Option Care Health (NASDAQ: OPCH). Optum in June penned its agreement to acquire Amedisys in an all-cash transaction of $101 per share, or about $3.3 […]

The Indiana-based palliative care provider Center for Hospice Care (CHC) is looking beyond its immediate community and has developed networks that impact palliative care on a global scale. The organization’s program, Global Partners in Care, collaborates with more than 100 hospice and palliative care organizations around the world to improve access to those services among […]