Outpatient palliative care services are growing to meet an increasing demand across healthcare settings. New models that integrate palliative care into clinics and home-based programs are emerging, and represent exciting opportunities to meet the realities of national health reform, increase access to and use of palliative care and improve patient care quality, according to the CAPC.
By Elyse Salend
Ten years ago there were few palliative care teams in hospitals, but today more than 63 percent of hospitals with 50 beds or more provide palliative care. Systems and structures for quality care are improving. There are Joint Commission certification standards, National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care Domains of Care and Guidelines, and Preferred Practices for Quality Palliative Care from the National Quality Forum.