FA L L 2 0 1 4
palliative care
perspectives
N EWSL E T T E R
Inside this issue
The Promise of Palliative Care –
A Team Perspective
The Role of the Licensed Clinical
Social Worker in Palliative Care
Caring for Loved Ones with
Late Stage Dementia
Support for the Journey:
Serious Illness Counseling
at Pathways
The Role of the Advanced Practice
Nurse in Palliative Care
Admissions
Contact
Information
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ONLINE:
www.pathways-care.org
Click on “For Healthcare
Professionals”
The Promise of Palliative Care –
A Team Perspective
If fully understood and utilized, palliative care provides what
most patients, insurers, providers, and health care systems want
and need. Such programs can assist in better communication,
informed decision making, utilization of health care resources,
and improved management of chronic advanced conditions. The
problem is that few fully understand what palliative care is, many
have a mental block to using it, and there is not the financial
support to provide the entire range of services needed to realize
the full potential of palliative care.
Dr. David Allen
Medical Director
Executive
Around the nation there are several successful palliative care models that have
improved quality, reduced costs, and lowered unnecessary readmissions. The vast
majority of these programs are part of integrated health systems. They utilize inpatient
palliative care, case managers, outpatient palliative care providers, and home care in a
coordinated way to accomplish these goals. The best programs improve their results by
delivering consistent communication and education concerning prognosis and advance
directives by their entire staff: primary care physicians, specialists, hospitalists, ED
physicians, and palliative care providers.
CMS plans to pilot 25 programs around the country to explore the cost benefit of
covering these services. Until we see concrete results from these programs, it will be
necessary for all stakeholders to cooperatively utilize the resources of each entity
to provide as much of the promise of palliative care as is possible in the current
environment.
In this era of ever greater demands on your time, it is hard to imagine how to find
the energy to support yet another evolving program. However, better utilization of
palliative care is worthy of your commitment because it has the potential to improve
patient outcomes while lessening the burden on your practice to deal with these
complex cases.
We urge you to consider being an active advocate of palliative care.
Please feel free to contact the Palliative Service at Pathways
or email us with your thoughts, questions, referrals.
Our Mission: Honoring every moment of life, Pathways Hospice provides compassionate, excellent,
comprehensive care for those who have an advanced medical condition and those who are grieving.