Widespread access to high-quality palliative care is essential for individuals facing serious illnesses. Achieving this goal necessitates robust policies at both federal and state levels, specifically designed to support hospital palliative care programs. These policies should strategically address critical areas to ensure effective and accessible care.
Firstly, access to specialized palliative care within hospitals is paramount. This includes addressing workforce adequacy through training and recruitment of palliative care professionals. Policy should promote the availability of palliative care programs across all hospital settings, ensuring no patient is excluded based on location or hospital type. Furthermore, reliable payment models are crucial to sustain these programs and ensure financial viability, encouraging hospitals to invest in and expand their palliative care services.
Secondly, maintaining and improving the quality of hospital palliative care programs requires clear standards and quality measurement frameworks. Policies should establish program standards that define best practices in palliative care delivery within hospitals. These standards should encompass interdisciplinary team structure, symptom management protocols, communication strategies, and family support services. Regular quality measurement and reporting are essential to monitor program performance, identify areas for improvement, and ensure consistent, high-quality care across all hospital programs.
Thirdly, comprehensive training for all hospital clinicians in essential palliative care skills is vital. Policies should mandate or incentivize training programs focusing on core competencies such as communication skills for sensitive conversations, effective pain and symptom management techniques, and providing holistic family support. Equipping all clinicians with these fundamental palliative care skills will enhance the overall quality of care for patients with serious illnesses, even beyond specialized palliative care teams.
The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) actively collaborates with various organizations to advocate for these policy changes, emphasizing the value of palliative care and its positive impact on patient outcomes and healthcare systems. Federal efforts should prioritize investments in healthcare professional training, support research to strengthen the evidence base for palliative care, and ensure that major healthcare programs like Medicare actively promote and reimburse high-quality palliative care services within hospitals.
State governments and healthcare purchasers also play a critical role in advancing hospital palliative care. State-level policies should focus on licensing and regulatory frameworks for healthcare professionals and organizations to ensure quality oversight of palliative care programs. By implementing these policies and utilizing available tools, healthcare systems can significantly improve the availability, quality, and integration of palliative care within hospitals, ultimately benefiting patients and their families facing serious illness.
For further information and resources, the Serious Illness Scorecard offers valuable insights into the current state of palliative care access and quality across the nation. For those interested in engaging in palliative care policy initiatives, resources and collaborative opportunities are available through organizations like CAPC.
