Literature Review

Palliative care providers can enhance care coordination Hospice News, by Rachel Edwards; 1/2/24Fragmented health care has significant ties to adverse outcomes in patients with chronic or serious illnesses. Palliative care providers’ ability to navigate the health care system, coordinate the delivery of care, interact regularly with patients and facilitate communication between providers can reduce this fragmentation. This type of coordination can improve outcomes, decrease costs and offer patients a better quality of life.

Palliative medicine helps stage IV melanoma survivor reclaim her life after treatmentAtrium Health; 1/1/24After a stage IV malignant melanoma diagnosis, brain surgery, radiation therapy and immunotherapy, Kate Crawford, 45, has reclaimed her quality of life thanks to palliative medicine at Atrium Health Levine Cancer. ...  While she has a vibrant, positive energy, the cancer treatments and disease itself led to numerous side effects and symptoms that drastically affected her quality of life. But thanks to palliative medicine at Levine Cancer, Kate says she feels more clear than she has in years. And her family says: “Kate is back.”

AAHPM 2024 Award WinnersPress Release 12/15/23Congratulations to all of the AAHPM award winners. We thank you for your hard work and dedication to the field.

Too Few Cancer Patients Get Palliative Care When Urinary Blockages AriseHealthDay News; 12/28/23The prognosis is poor for many cancer patients who develop serious urinary blockages, but researchers say less than half receive palliative care. ... Hospice care can make patients comfortable and head off aggressive treatments for patients with malignant ureteral obstruction (MUO) who are nearing the end of life, said lead researcher Dr. Michael Felice, of Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill.

Palliative care pioneer named chief medical officer of The Elizabeth HospiceSan Diego Union-TribuneDecember 24, 2023Escondido, CA—Charles von Gunten, M.D., F.A.A.H.P.M. is the new chief medical officer for The Elizabeth Hospice and will oversee all medical aspects of the organization’s hospice and palliative care and services. ... Von Gunten is a pioneer in palliative medicine. He was the founding chairman of the test committee for Hospice & Palliative Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine on behalf of nine American Board of Medical Specialties member boards. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine in 2011.

Contessa’s Lessons Learned on Risk-Based Palliative CarePalliative Care NewsDecember 13, 2023As Contessa Health pioneers a growing value-based palliative care-at-home program, they’ve encountered some learning curves when it comes to operating within a new payment system. Contessa is a subsidiary of Amedisys, which the home health and hospice provider acquired in 2021 for $250 million. 

The Denver Hospice Announces Grand Opening of Second Optio Palliative Care Outpatient ClinicNews ReleaseDecember 7, 2023Denver, CO—Focused on providing comfort and a better quality of life for patients facing serious or chronic illnesses, The Denver Hospice is opening its second palliative care outpatient clinic, Optio Palliative Care Clinic-South. ... “Finding care for patients with serious illness presents significant challenges and stress for those patients and their caregivers. Optio Palliative Care Clinics provide support so that patients have the best possible quality of life while they complete their treatments, and caregivers get their questions and concerns answered about the care. Easy, convenient, access to palliative care services is a key reason for opening our second outpatient palliative care location,” said Ernesto Lopez, president of The Denver Hospice. 

Palliative Care News’ Top 5 Stories of 2023Palliative Care NewsDecember 6, 2023A look back at Palliative Care News’ five most-read stories this year paints a picture of trends shaping the serious illness care space. Securing reimbursement—and the promise of value-based contracts—continues to be top of mind for many palliative care providers as they look ahead to 2024. Operators have their eyes on the ever-shifting payment landscape and the headwinds and opportunities that come with it. Meanwhile, more providers are increasingly working to address health disparities among underserved populations in various settings, including prisons and rural areas, among others. But in the midst of this, workforce shortages and clinical capacity issues remain obstacles to palliative care access. The following are the most-read Palliative Care News articles of 2023.

How Value-Based Care, Investors Could Impact Palliative Care StaffingPalliative Care NewsDecember 4, 2023Interest in palliative care is rising among job-seeking clinicians, but the influx remains too slow to meet rising demand. ... Though far more resources are needed, more opportunities for clinical palliative care training have been emerging in recent years, according to Dr. Nathan Goldstein, currently professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Lack of Awareness Challenging Palliative Care’s Plight in the Hospice VBID LandscapePalliative Care NewsDecember 1, 2023A main barrier to palliative care growth in the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in is a lack of understanding of these services among beneficiaries, as well as inconsistent service delivery.

GeriPal: Redefining Alzheimer’s Disease: A Podcast with Heather Whitson, Jason Karlawish, Lon Schneider.There is a growing push to change how we define Alzheimer’s disease from what was historically a clinically defined syndrome to a newer biological definition based on the presence of positive amyloid biomarkers.

US life expectancy climbs in 2022 after COVID retreat