Palliative Care Leadership Centers Help Fast-Track Creation of New Palliative Care Programs
Palliative Care Leadership Centers are six leading palliative care programs that offer site visits, individualized training and ongoing mentoring to help other healthcare institutions establish successful palliative care program. The Palliative Care Leadership Center initiative is funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and led by the Center to Advance Palliative Care.
(PRWEB) April 21, 2004 -- More than 150 health care institutions throughout
the United States are participating in a new mentoring program offered by The
Center to Advance Palliative Care (http:www.capc.org) to establish more
palliative care programs for better management of advanced, chronic illness.
Through the Palliative Care Leadership Centers initiative, healthcare teams
visit one of six premier palliative care programs to receive hands-on training
and mentoring to fast track their own programs.
"The strong response
from hospitals and health care systems wanting to take advantage of this unique
opportunity affirms that palliative care can effectively address key health care
concerns", says Diane E. Meier, M.D., Director of The Center to Advance
Palliative Care. “Since there are a limited number of mentoring placements
available, we encourage other institutions that are considering a palliative
care program to apply now so they can be considered for this program”.
The Palliative Care Leadership Centers directors believe the best way to
learn how to build a palliative care program is to visit a leading program in
practice and receive insight and guidance from the professionals who run the
program. Healthcare professional interested in applying for the Palliative Care
Leadership Center can do so by going to The Center to Advance Palliative Care
Web site at: http://www.capc.org/pclc
Palliative care is a rapidly
growing trend in health care. The American Hospital Association’s Annual Survey
of Hospitals shows that 950 hospitals now have palliative care programs. This
represents an increase of 42% since 2002 when the AHA first began reporting data
on palliative care programs. As of July 2002, U.S. News and World Report
included palliative care as a criterion in its special issue, America’s Best
Hospitals.
Palliative care is medical care focused on the relief of
suffering and support of the best possible quality of life. It is offered at any
stage of illness, simultaneous with other appropriate medical treatment.
Palliative care has been shown to systematically improve pain and symptom
management, improve patient outcomes and increase patient and family
satisfaction, as well as facilitate compliance with pain management and quality
accreditation standards. Palliative care programs contribute to efficient and
effective use of healthcare resources by improving continuity of care and
reducing fragmentation of care delivery.
The Palliative Care Leadership
Centers were chosen through a rigorous selection process, based on their
clinical and program excellence, leadership, and educational experience. The six
Palliative Care Leadership Centers are:
Fairview Foundation (Fairview
Health Services) in Minneapolis, MN
Massey Cancer Center of Virginia
Commonwealth University Health System in Richmond, VA
Medical College of
Wisconsin in Milwaukee, WI
Mount Carmel Health System in Columbus, OH
Palliative Care Center of the Bluegrass in Lexington, KY
University of
California, San Francisco in San Francisco, CA
The Centers, located at
academic medical centers, cancer centers, health systems and community-based
organizations, provide visiting healthcare teams with expertise on the financial
and operational dimensions of establishing a palliative care program, including:
Hospital needs assessment;
Financial and business planning;
Organizational and service models;
Clinical operations and staffing;
Community partnerships;
Clinical and quality outcomes; and
Marketing
palliative care to clinicians and patients.
For more information on the
Palliative Care Leadership Centers, healthcare professionals can visit www.capc.org/pclc or e-mail:
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/4/prweb119428.htm