Literature Review

Three state snapshots of pediatric palliative care: California, Massachusetts, and VermontNational Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP); by Neva Kaye and Heather Smith; 1/13/25 Pediatric palliative care is an important component of the system of care for children with serious illness and their families. Palliative care can provide relief from symptoms, improve satisfaction and outcomes, and help address critical needs during difficult times. However, many children and families who could benefit from palliative care are unable to access it. State Medicaid and Title V Maternal and Child Health Service Block Grant programs are working to address this issue. ...

5 ‘Hidden Gem’ Palliative Care News Stories in 2024Palliative Care News; by Holly Vossel; 12/27/24Palliative care providers have explored diverse routes to improve quality and access to their services in 2024. Below are five under-the-radar stories that, while important, didn’t make our most read this year. The topics spanned evolving reimbursement trends, innovative care delivery partnerships and research examining the biggest barriers among undeserved populations.

2024’s most read palliative care news stories Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 12/20/24 “Access” was the watchword in the palliative care community during 2024, as providers sought more ways to reach the right patients at the right time. However, the momentum toward greater access is slow, even though researchers, payers, providers and regulators increasingly recognized the value of palliative when it comes to improved quality and health care expenditures. The following are the most-read Palliative Care News articles of 2024. This year’s top coverage spanned a wide range of payment, legislative and research trends impacting the future delivery of palliative care.

Impact of transition to home palliative care on patient support and prescriptions Physician's Weekly; 12/19/24 The following is a summary of “Evaluating the Benefits of Transition to Home Palliative Care: Pharmacological Prescriptions, Social, and Psychological Support Post-Referral,” published in the November 2024 issue of Primary Care by Ribeiro et al. Community palliative care teams provide at-home care based on referral criteria that prioritize functional status and clinical complexity. They focus on patients with limited benefit from continued hospital care. Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess the quality of referrals and the transition to community palliative care teams. ... They concluded that most complex patients were successfully monitored and died at home, with hospital deaths reserved for exceptional cases. There was no significant difference in the biopsychosocial approach between patients followed by various palliative care teams, indicating varying approaches. 

Palliative medicine for the community paramedic Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS) - The Conscience of EMS; by Maurice Paquette; 12/17/24 The role of the paramedic is evolving. ... EMS has become a catch-all, a gateway into a somewhat—if not totally—fractured healthcare system. ... The landscape of healthcare is shifting as well. The pandemic, coupled with the realization of self-care, well-being, and mental health struggles has caused drastic reduction in the number of healthcare workers, and the amount of experience in skills that those healthcare workers carried with them. ... Over the past many years, we’ve seen a push for the idea of the community paramedic, as well as mobile healthcare. The establishment of a community paramedic program, especially in rural areas of the United States, would provide non-emergent care, under expanded scope and under the direction of a physician in the patient’s home.  According to a literature review in the International Journal of Paramedicine, the most common community paramedic program goals are to “aid patients in chronic disease management, reduce emergency department visits, reduce hospital admissions/readmissions, and reduce Healthcare costs.” Editor's note: Pair this with the article we posted yesterday, Characteristics of patients enrolled in hospice presenting to the emergency department.

Palliative care may improve quality of life for stroke survivors and their family members American Heart Association - Stroke News & Brain Health; by Newsroom; 12/16/24 Palliative care ... can help improve quality of life for stroke survivors as well as their family members, according to “Palliative and End-of-Life Care in Stroke,” a new scientific statement published today in the Association’s peer-reviewed scientific journal Stroke. ... The new statement complements the Association’s 2014 Scientific Statement on Palliative and End-of-Life Care in Stroke, which covered core palliative care competencies and skills for health care professionals who treat stroke patients. The statement includes strategies to improve communication about prognosis and goals-of-care, address psychosocial needs such as coping with loss, navigate complex health care systems and prepare for death with end-of-life care when necessary. It also highlights the substantial inequities that exist in palliative care after stroke across sociodemographic and regional characteristics and the need to reduce those disparities.

Two states lead the pack on palliative care access, many lag behind Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 12/10/24 Two states — Massachusetts and Oregon — rise above the rest when it comes to access to palliative care. This is according to the new rankings from the Center to Advance Palliative Care, America’s Readiness to Meet the Needs of People with Serious Illness Scorecard. The scorecard ranks each state’s capacity to deliver high-quality care to people facing serious illness on a five-star scale by evaluating five domains, according to Stacie Sinclair, the associate director for policy and care transformation at the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). To develop the scorecard, CAPC applied an updated methodology that considers metrics beyond those used in previous reports, which only examined the availability of palliative care in hospitals with 50 beds or more. 

Bloom Healthcare CEO: Integrating palliative care into every decision Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 12/3/24 The house call provider Bloom Healthcare has leveraged its integrated palliative-primary care model to achieve substantial reductions in hospitalizations and health care costs. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently recognized Bloom as a top performing High-Needs Accountable Care Organization under the agency’s Realizing Equity, Access and Community Health (ACO REACH) model. Through its ACO REACH program, Bloom reduced unplanned hospital readmissions by 25% and realized a gross cost savings rate of 24.6%. The company’s patients averaged 326.7 days at home during  2023. Bloom Healthcare cares for about 10,000 high-needs patients with a comprehensive primary care and care management model that incorporates palliative care. The company currently operates in Colorado and Texas. ... Palliative Care News sat down with Bloom CEO Dr. Thomas Lally to discuss the strategies the company used to garner these results and how palliative care factored in. [Click on the title's link to continue reading.]

Palliative care bypasses Black heart disease patients The St. Louis American; by Alvin A. Reid; 11/30/24 A study by Saint Louis University researchers paints a grim picture for many heart failure patients in America – and the outlook is worse for African Americans. The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, found that only one in eight patients with heart failure nationwide receive palliative care consultations within five years of diagnosis. Alarmingly, Black people were 15% less likely to receive palliative care compared to white patients with similar heart health illness. Other recent respective studies illustrate the higher risk and mortality rates for cardiovascular disease in the Black population – further demonstrating that the missing palliative care options have a greater negative impact on African American health. New statistics from a medical team at EHproject show African American women are at a greater risk for cardiovascular disease than their white counterparts. It found that 47.3% of Black women have heart disease. If they do not have it currently, they are 2.4 times more likely to develop heart disease. ... A March 2023 study published in JAMA Cardiology showed that Black men remain at the highest risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. ... 

Simmons Nursing and Dix Scholar Alum offers palliative care to Navajo nation Simmons University, Boston, MA; 11/20/24 Susan Perron ’18 came to Simmons as an adult student, pursuing her second bachelor’s degree. “I wanted a job that used both practical and critical thinking skills,” says Perron. “I wanted to do something helpful to humanity.”  ...  “I was a COVID-19 nurse throughout the pandemic, and it burned me out,” she recalls. “If you’re a good nurse, you take time to self-reflect. ... Perron took the opportunity and moved to the Hopi Reservation in Northeastern Arizona. Providing ambulatory care to people on the reservation meant that Perron could work in a clinic and take a break from twelve-hour shifts. That said, the year on the Hopi Reservation presented her with challenges. “I had to drive two hours to Flagstaff to get groceries. We would lose power often, and the water was often shut off for maintenance." ... Perron emphasizes that understanding the Navajo belief system is integral to this kind of work. In addition to Dr. Mohs, Perron works closely with her colleague and mentor, Ida Bradley (Navajo) a nurse who specializes in medical terminology in the Navajo language and has extensive experience with end of life care within the Navajo culture. 

Lower Cape Fear LifeCare launches palliative care clinicHospice News; by Jim Parker; 11/19/2024 Lower Cape Fear LifeCare has opened the first free-standing palliative medicine clinic in southeastern North Carolina. The LifeCare Center for Palliative Medicine will provide outpatient palliative care to patients experiencing serious illness. The clinic will serve patients from the Novant Health system, including its Zimmer Cancer Institute and physician clinics. It will also accept referrals from other physicians in the community.

Growing palliative care team expands access into ambulatory setting UConn Today; by Jennifer Walker; 11/13/24 Palliative care is a medical subspecialty focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of serious illness. The goal is to improve the quality of life for both the patient and the family. Palliative care is appropriate at any age and stage of illness and can be provided along with all other medical treatments. Eight years ago, UConn Health began outpatient palliative care at the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center with a cancer center supportive care clinic.  The supportive care clinic includes two full-time nurse practitioners and support from an interdisciplinary team. The service has continued to grow since it was started with volumes increasing 250%. As the Cancer Center grows, volume and need for palliative care is also anticipated to increase.

How health system palliative providers can leverage data to gain more resources Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 11/12/24 Palliative care clinicians in health systems can apply research to lobby administrators for additional resources. In doing so, they may get a profile boost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Palliative care’s reputation grew during the pandemic, with more patients and health care organizations recognizing its benefits and value. Stakeholders can leverage this in discussions with organization leaders, according to Dr. Tamara Vesel, chief of the Palliative Care Division at Tufts Medical Center and associate professor of medicine and pediatrics, Tufts University School of Medicine. ... When approaching organization leaders to advocate for palliative care, the importance of data cannot be overstated, according to study co-author Dr. Bernice Burkarth, chief medical officer of Tufts Medicine Care at Home and assistant professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.Editor's note: Reminder, our newsletter's Saturday edition always compiles relevant, timely research articles for you. To me, the word "research" means to "re-search," as in to search again--now--for the best information and appliciations available, today. We do alot of the work for you, re-searching and re-searching topics, pairing timely hospice and palliative challenges with formal research's background needs, research methods, data, references, conclusions, applications, and needs for further examination.