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Palliative Care Leadership Center Initiative To Mentor Healthcare Organizations

In response to a growing demand from healthcare organizations for assistance in starting palliative care programs to effectively manage advanced, chronic illness, the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) launched its Palliative Care Leadership Center (PCLC).

Under the initiative, healthcare teams are invited to visit one of six premier palliative care programs to receive hands-on training and technical assistance to fast-track their own programs.

The number of hospital-based palliative care programs has doubled to more than 950 in recent years in response to the critical need to provide high quality care to seriously ill patients living with advanced, chronic illness, according to CAPC.

Palliative care has been shown to systematically improve pain and symptom management, improve patient outcomes and increase patient and family satisfaction, as well as facilitate compliance with pain management and quality accreditation standards.

Programs also improve continuity of care and reduce fragmentation of care delivery, contributing to efficient use of healthcare resources.

The six PCLCs are:

  • Fairview Health Services — Minneapolis, Minn.
  • Massey Cancer Center of Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center — Richmond, Va.
  • Medical College of Wisconsin — Milwaukee, Wis.
  • Mount Carmel Health System — Columbus, Ohio.
  • Palliative Care Center of the Bluegrass — Lexington, Ky.
  • University of California, San Francisco — San Francisco, Calif.

    The PCLCs, located at academic medical centers, cancer centers, health systems and community-based organizations, will provide visiting healthcare teams with expertise on the financial and operational dimensions of establishing a palliative care program, including:

  • Hospital needs assessment.
  • Financing and business planning.
  • How to choose organizational and service models.
  • Staffing.
  • Measuring clinical and financial impact.
  • Strategies for ensuring and managing growth.
  • Hospice-hospital collaborations.
  • Marketing palliative care to clinicians and patients.

    "The large number of healthcare organizations already participating in this initiative signals the increasing recognition that palliative care effectively addresses top healthcare concerns: quality improvement, the aging boom and the need to manage patients with advanced, chronic illness well," said Dr. Diane E. Meier, director of CAPC.

    A $4.5 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation made this nationwide initiative possible.

    Address: Center to Advance Palliative Care, 1255 Fifth Ave., Suite C-2, New York, NY 10029; (212) 201-2670, www.capc.org.

    • This article is reprinted from Health Resources Publishing's "hospice letter." © 2004, Health Resources Publishing. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.
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    This page was last updated: June 7, 2004