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WHEN TO CONSIDER PALLIATIVE CARE
for Your Patient
By DAVID R. WENNER, DO, FAAFP, FAAHPM Assistant Medical Director, Homeland Hospice
C
ommunity-based palliative care is a growing specialty, as the need for palliative care is increasing locally in Central Pennsylvania and in communities throughout the United States.
According to a report by the Center to Advance Palliative Care and the National Palliative Care Research Center, 94 percent of our nation’s hospitals with more than 300 beds now have a palliative care team. Even among smaller hospitals, with 50-299 beds, 62 percent have palliative care programs. As the cost of health care continues to rise, that same report also shows that palliative care reduces direct hospital costs by as much as $3,000 per admission. For patients with four or more diagnoses, costs are lowered even more – by upwards of $4,800 per admission. Physicians and their patients typically seek out palliative care to assist with symptom management, communication regarding goals-of-care discussions and decision-making, and end-of-life or hospice care. Inpatient palliative care is usually managed by either a hospital team or a single palliative care practitioner. Palliative care focuses on relief of physical, emotional and spiritual symptoms related to chronic and/or serious illness. Symptoms such
22 Fall 2021 Central PA Medicine
