Penn Medicine Sets Out to Identify Best Palliative Care Models

Wide variation exists in the ways palliative care is delivered, but Penn Medicine is launching an extensive research project to determine best practices in the hospital setting. A central question in the controlled randomized trial is whether patients would benefit more from expanded access to specialty palliative care versus care from generalists who receive a […]

Pre-Operative Palliative Consults Not Effective for Many Cancer Patients

Pre-operative palliative care consultations for patients undergoing major cancer surgery are unwarranted, new evidence suggests. A recent randomized controlled trial did not support routine integration of specialty palliative care in those cases. Researchers found that the physical and functional quality of life at 90 days was essentially the same for patients who received those consults […]

The Hot Take: Empassion Health’s Nicole McCann-Davis Discusses Health Equity Issues Percolating in Palliative Care

Palliative care providers have a limited window into the disparities plaguing underserved populations when it comes to access and awareness of their serious illness care options, according to Nicole McCann-Davis, vice president of communications and chief health equity officer at Empassion Health. Palliative Care News recently sat down with McCann-Davis to discuss the scope of […]

Palliative Care Payment Avenues in the Kidney Care Choices Model

The Kidney Care Choices (KCC) model is among the reimbursement streams that is widening payment for palliative care services. It could also help improve utilization of serious illness and end-of-life care. Patients with chronic kidney disease can often receive fragmented care and expensive treatments. They also receive limited to no education about their health trajectories, […]

Palliative Care’s Biggest Growing Pains

Strains on reimbursement, referrals and staffing represent the biggest obstacles to palliative care providers’ viability and growth. It takes time to build up the payment, referral and workforce resources needed to support a sustainable palliative care program, according to Dr. Stephen Goldfine, chief medical officer at Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice. The New Jersey-based nonprofit offers […]

Study: Palliative Care-Oriented Model Needed for Patients with Neurological Illnesses

Prevalent care models for neurological illnesses could be improved by more extensive integration of palliative care, recent research has found. A team of international researchers reviewed prior studies of care models for treating Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, dementia and other neurological diseases. They found that the development of an evidence-based framework for early and ongoing […]

Breaking Down Common Palliative Care Misconceptions

Palliative care providers face an uphill battle when it comes to communicating and defining the scope of their interdisciplinary services not only to seriously ill patients, but also referring clinicians across the continuum. Misconceptions abound in and around the spheres of serious and terminal illness care. The public and health care providers alike often conflate […]

How Palliative Care Fits in to CMMI’s Enhancing Oncology Model

A new cancer-focused payment model demonstration from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) could create opportunities for palliative care providers. The goals of the Enhancing Oncology Model (EOM), which went live on July 1, are to improve quality and reduce the cost of cancer care with augmented care coordination. While documents on the […]

Inside Kansas’ 5-Year Plan to Expand Palliative Care

This spring, Kansas launched a five-year plan to make palliative care more accessible to its nearly 3 million residents. The seeds of the plan were planted in 2018 when the legislature established the state’s Palliative Care and Quality of Life Interdisciplinary Advisory Council. The group was charged with advising the state Department of Health on […]

How Nonprofit Palliative Care Providers Are Raising Philanthropic Dollars

Raising philanthropic funding is often vital to nonprofit palliative care providers. But to attract donors, operators must be prepared to communicate their value proposition, according to Steve Cone, chief communications officer at Capital Caring Health. “It’s key to point out that palliative care is better for everybody, the patient, the family and payers,” Cone told […]