Health Affairs: Policy Changes Key to Promoting Sustainability and Growth of the Speciality Palliative Care Workforce
In the June 2019 issue of Health Affairs, Arif H. Kamal et al. published a recent study on whether the palliative care workforce can meet the growing demand for its services, given the growing population of people living with a serious illness.
Using recent survey data, the team learned that the impending "workforce valley" means a decline in physician numbers until 2045 — without policy change. "There is an immediate need for policies that support high-value, team-based palliative care through expansion in all segments of the specialty palliative care workforce, combined with payment reform to encourage the deployment of sustainable teams."