Hospitals and hospices share common goals despite different cultures, practice experiences and payment structures. Mary Ann Gill, MA, Executive Director Palliative Care Services, Mt. Carmel Health System, located in Columbus, OH and one of six Palliative Care Leadership Centers, shares tips on how hospices and hospitals can collaborate to build on the other’s strengths and expand access to a continuum of high quality palliative and end-of-life care services.

Since the start of the Palliative Care Leadership Center (PCLC) initiative in 2004, Mount Carmel has trained more than 75 teams from institutions around the country. During the training, they bring hospital and hospice team members together, often for the first time, to discuss the necessary components of a strong partnership. In many cases, the hospital and hospice partners aren’t familiar with each other's resources and constraints. They start with these discussions and then address the factors that influence strong hospice-hospital partnerships. By the end of the PCLC training, the partners have a deeper understanding of each other and have designed a hospice-hospital partnership model tailored to meet the needs of their institutions.

Partnership Model Design considerations include:

• Locus of program leadership
• Availability of institutional resources
• Existence of competitive local palliative care and hospice programs
• The past history of hospice-hospital shared programs.

• A fully integrated palliative care program with shared hospice-hospital resources addressing inpatient, outpatient, home-based care and nursing facility-based clinical services and education
• A hospice-based palliative care program affiliated with one or more hospitals and/or other community-based providers
• A hospital-based palliative care program affiliated with one or more hospices and/or other community- based providers.

To learn more about different partnership models, and which may be the most appropriate for your institution, please read:

• Hospice-Hospital Partnerships in Palliative Care, an NHPCO and CAPC publication that describes nine different case studies of successful hospice-hospital partnerships in a range of healthcare settings, communities and parts of the country
• Choosing a Model, a PowerPoint presentation that outlines the different elements that influence various models as well as a review of models chosen by leading programs in the US.

Mary Ann also offers a few suggestions to improve the overall hospice-hospital partnership:

• Determine resuscitation status and other patient choices early in the care process and prior to the patient’s discharge
• Use the hospice’s preferred providers and formularies in discharge orders
• Establish processes for the hospice to provide rapid response to hospital referrals and to prepare patients for discharge from the hospital.

She also suggests ways for hospices to integrate into the hospital system to increase referrals to hospice:

• Join the hospital’s Ethics Committee
• Support and advise the hospital’s pain management initiative
• Educate hospital staff about end-of-life issues, particularly in the areas of heart disease and end-stage pulmonary disease.

Additional Resources on Hospice-Hospital Partnerships:

Online Resources:

• Sample hospital-hospice contracts
• A review of legal considerations relevant to hospice-hospital partnerships
• Resources for financing such programs
• Tools, including consult billing sheets, ICD-9 codes and patient consent forms

Training and Audio Conference Information:

Palliative Care Leadership Center Training: Two-day, hands-on training session that will introduce you to all the key concepts necessary to build a successful palliative care program.

Audio Conference: “Creating Palliative Care Pathways through Hospital-Hospice Partnerships,” an audio conference sponsored by CAPC and NHPCO. Speakers include: J. Donald Schumacher, PsyD., President and CEO, NHPCO; Gretchen M. Brown, MSW, President and CEO, Palliative Care Center of the Bluegrass; and Diane E. Meier, MD, FACP, Director, CAPC; Director, Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

• Thursday, September 15, 1:30-2:45 p.m. Eastern, 10:30-11:45 a.m. Pacific
• $45 per phone line
• Register here

CAPC is honored to announce that the prestigious AHA Circle of Life Award was presented to the Thomas Palliative Care Unit of the VCU Massey Cancer Center. A Citation of Honor was awarded to The Froedtert Hospital and Medical College of Wisconsin Palliative Care Program. Both award-winning programs are part of the Palliative Care Leadership Center initiative, which offers training and mentoring to other institutions eager to establish a hospital palliative care program.

The Circle of Life Award honors innovations in palliative and end-of-life care, and is sponsored by the American Hospital Association in conjunction with the American Medical Association, the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and by a grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

To learn more about the work of both the Massey Cancer Center and the Froedtert Hospital/Medical College of Wisconsin, and to apply to train at these institutions, please visit www.capc.org/pclc.

CAPC shares in the grief of the hospice and palliative care community in the death of Dame Cicely Saunders, OM, DBE, FRCP, FRCN, founder of the modern hospice movement and pioneer in the palliative care movement. Saunders died peacefully at St. Christopher's Hospice in London on July 14, 2005 at the age of 87.

She dedicated both her life and professional work to alleviating the pain and suffering of the dying. In 1967, she founded St. Christopher's Hospice, the first modern hospice, which served as a model of care and sparked a significant grassroots movement in the United States and transformed the care of the dying and the practice of medicine.

She worked as a nurse during World War II, later becoming a social worker, and then went on to medical school to become a physician. Saunders will be remembered for her work and impact on improving the culture of end-of-life care.

Information compiled from The New York Times, AAHPM, NHPCO, and The EPEC Project stories.

To read more about palliative care in the news, including the latest article in The New York Times Magazine please click here.

Apply today to attend one of six premier Palliative Care Leadership Centers (PCLC) where you will receive on-site training and technical assistance to start or strengthen your hospital palliative care program. Learn how to finance, design and operate a successful program at your own institution through the hands-on, two-day training and a full year of follow-up mentoring.

CME credit is available for physicians.
Nurse and Social Work credits pending.

For more information about the individual PCLCs, click on their name below. The PCLCs are holding 2005 training sessions on the following dates.

Fairview Health Services – Minneapolis, MN
September 14-16
October 5-7
November 2-4
November 30-December 1

Massey Cancer Center of Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center – Richmond, VA
September 19-20
October 17-18
November 14-15
December 12-13

Medical College of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, WI
September 19-21
October 24-26
November 9-11
December 7-9

Mount Carmel Health System – Columbus, OH
September 15-16
October 13-14
November 17-18
December 8-9

Palliative Care Center of the Bluegrass – Lexington, KY
September 28-30
October 10-12
October 26-28
November 16-18

University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) – San Francisco, CA
September 22-23
November 3-4

Note: The above list does not guarantee availability. Sessions fill months in advance and registration is on a first-come, first-served basis only.

Featuring nationally recognized leaders in the field of palliative care, CAPC’s interactive audio conferences offer participants useful information about the structural, operational and financial aspects of developing and sustaining palliative care programs. Sign up early because space is limited.

Mark your calendars for these upcoming Audio Conferences:

Creating Palliative Care Pathways through Hospital-Hospice Partnerships

Register Now

Thursday, September 15
1:30-2:45 pm Eastern, 10:30-11:45 am Pacific
$45 per phone line

1.5 Nurse Education Contact Hours available.

Click here to register online for this audio conference. Presented by CAPC and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), this audio conference features an expert panel of palliative care and hospice leaders who will share practical insights into hospital-hospice partnerships and strategies for designing and implementing palliative care programs.

Panel members:

• J. Donald Schumacher, PsyD., President and CEO, NHPCO
• Gretchen M. Brown, MSW, President and CEO, Palliative Care Center of the Bluegrass
• Diane E. Meier, MD, FACP, Director, Center to Advance Palliative Care and Director, Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

How to Use Financial Data to Strengthen Your Palliative Care Program, Increase Referrals and Support your Clinical Mission
Registration will be available soon

Wednesday, November 9
1:30 p.m. Eastern, 10:30 a.m. Pacific

Panelist:

• Lynn Hill Spragens, MBA, President & CEO, Spragens and Associates, LLC

Making an Impact: Simple Steps for Collecting Data Registration will be available soon

Tuesday, December 6
1:30 p.m. Eastern, 10:30 a.m. Pacific

Panel members:

• R. Sean Morrison, MD, Director of Research, Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
• Philip H. Santa-Emma, MD, Medical Director, Palliative Care Services, Mt. Carmel Health System

Click here to register online for the September 15 audio conference. Have an idea for the next audio conference? Click here to send us your suggestions.

Order A Guide to Building a Hospital-Based Palliative Care Program for $99 at www.capc.org by Labor Day and receive your second copy for free!

This unique desktop reference lays out the 7 essential stages of launching and operating a successful program.

"Success is assured when hospitals follow the advice in this Guide."
Charles F. von Guten, MD, PhD, FACP,
Medical Director, Center for Palliative Studies, San Diego Hospice and Palliative Care & Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Palliative Medicine

Order the step-by-step Guide to Building a Hospital-Based Palliative Care Program at www.capc.org and receive one additional copy for free. This offer applies to online orders only.

This is a must-have for everyone on your palliative care team!