Hospice-Led Palliative Care
A growing number of hospice agencies are launching palliative care services as a separate business line for patients who are ineligible for—or do not elect—hospice care. These palliative care programs can address critical gaps in care for the patients living with a serious illness in their communities, and may also be an important referral source for an agency’s hospice program.
This toolkit contains resources specific to the challenges and opportunities that hospice agencies encounter when designing and delivering upstream palliative care.
What’s in the Toolkit
Needs Assessment
Engage stakeholders—patients and families, agency leadership, referrers, and financial partners—to guide program design that is aligned with their priorities.
Defining community-based palliative care: which patients need it, how it is delivered, and how it differs from inpatient palliative care.
Evaluating patient need, service requirements, care settings, and stakeholder priorities for the community-based palliative care program.
Step-by-step tool to evaluate patient need, stakeholder priorities, organizational readiness, and sites of care for a new or growing community-based palliative care service.
Comprehensive instructions and tools for conducting focus groups during a needs assessment. Published by Community Tool Box.
Considerations for the hospice before starting a non-hospice palliative care service line. Webinar presentation.
This Virtual Office Hour covers business planning for new or growing palliative care programs across settings.
In this Virtual Office Hour, ask questions of expert faculty about launching a new community-based program, designing your service package and staffing, and navigating the challenges of a new program.
Palliative Care Program Design
Non-hospice palliative care programs are designed to address patient need, organizational priorities, and referrer relationships.
Program design considerations including patients, services, and staff. Center to Advance Palliative Care, 2019.
This webinar, hosted by Tom Gualtieri-Reed, MBA, features a panel of three CEOs from community-based hospice organizations who have expanded to include palliative care.
Staffing models and benchmarks used by home-based programs.
Differentiating hospice and palliative care services and eligibility. Webinar presentation.
Practical tools and technical assistance for starting or growing a home-based palliative care program, from needs assessment to business planning, and more.
Tools and technical assistance for starting or expanding a hospital palliative care service.
Tools and technical assistance for developing a palliative care program in a community clinic or office setting.
Use this toolkit to evaluate models and design and operate a long-term care palliative care program.
Tips for Hospice-Operated Palliative Care Programs
Guidance on navigating differences in philosophy, staffing, financing, and referral protocols between the palliative care and hospice services.
Assists hospices operating community palliative care programs to understand five key steps to take before launching their program. Center to Advance Palliative Care, 2019.
Checklist for assessing organizational capacity to launch a non-hospice palliative care service. Center to Advance Palliative Care, 2019.
Program design considerations including patients, services, and staff. Center to Advance Palliative Care, 2019.
Navigating financing strategies for hospice-led palliative care, including Medicare fee-for-service, payment contracts, organizational support, and philanthropy.
Guidance for clarifying boundaries between hospice and palliative care services, and building internal cohesion. Center to Advance Palliative Care, 2019.
Best practices to promote appropriate, patient-centered referrals. Center to Advance Palliative Care, 2019.
Staff Training for Palliative Care
Training for hospice and/or palliative care clinicians in communication skills, pain and symptom management, dementia care best practices, and family caregiver support.
This resource offers some step-wise tips that foster comfortable, productive dialogue for 'the hospice conversation.'
Course catalog for CAPC's clinical training curriculum. All courses provide continuing education credits for physicians, nurses, social workers, and care managers from all specialties and are free for CAPC members.
Online training curriculum for all specialties and disciplines to strengthen their care of patients living with serious illness. Free continuing education credits for all, and physicians receive ABIM MOC credits for select courses.
A case study from Bluegrass Care Navigators.
Program Measurement and Evaluation
Tools to identify measures, collect data, and use your data to demonstrate the value of the palliative care program to patients, partners, and the hospice agency.
Use this toolkit to select program measures that demonstrate value and support quality care delivery. Overcome common measurement obstacles and synthesize program data.
Program Certification
Certification programs for hospice-led palliative care programs based on national quality standards.
Recognizes community palliative care programs delivered by independent providers of palliative care, palliative care programs that are a service of a clinic, physician group, skilled nursing facility (SNF), or of a CHAP-accredited home health agency or hospice. Certification award is for three (3) years.
Recognizes palliative care programs delivered by hospice or home health agencies that demonstrate exceptional quality.
The Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) recognizes community-based palliative care programs that demonstrate exceptional quality; optional distinction in telehealth available. ACHC also offers palliative care distinction for accredited home health, hospice, and private duty agencies.
Faculty
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John Morris, MD, FAAHPM
Chief Medical Officer, Palliative Care
Four Seasons -
Shauna Anderson, MS, RN
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Barbara Sutton, APRN, ACHPN
Consultant
Center to Advance Palliative Care
Nurse Practitioner
CareOregon -
Turner West, MPH, MTS
Associate Vice President for Health Policy
Bluegrass Care Navigators
Faculty, Palliative Care Leader… -
Jeanne Sheils Twohig, MPA
Consultant
Center to Advance Palliative Care
