Glossary

Here are some terms used throughout this report, along with others you are likely to encounter in similar publications.

Allopathic medicine

Also known as “conventional medicine,” the system of medical practice that treats disease by using remedies that produce effects different from those produced by the disease under treatment. MDs, for example, practice allopathic medicine.

Hospice

Hospice provides palliative care focused on terminally ill patients who are no longer seeking curative or life-prolonging treatments and who are expected to live for about six months or less. Hospice is provided through the Medicare hospice benefit and other payers, and can take place in the home, nursing home, hospital or at a stand-alone hospice.

Hospital palliative care program

Interdisciplinary medical team focused on symptom management, intensive patient-physician-family communication, clarifying goals of treatment and coordination of care across health care settings.

Hospital types

For-profit hospitals: Hospitals with fifty or more beds that are run by individuals, partnerships or corporations.

Large hospitals: Hospitals with 300 or more beds.

Public hospitals: Not-for-profit institutions run by a state, county, city, joint city-county, hospital district or authority, with fifty or more beds. (In this report, nongovernment, not-for-profit hospitals, such as those run by church-affiliated institutions, were excluded from this category.)

Small hospitals: Hospitals with fewer than fifty beds. Sole community provider (SCP) hospitals receive special designation by Medicare because they are located more than thirty-five miles from other hospitals, or they serve as the sole provider of health care services for a region due to limitations in local topography or prolonged severe weather conditions.

Hospitalist

A physician who is employed by the hospital and specializes in the care of hospitalized patients.

National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care (NCP)

A national consensus project that published formal definitions of palliative care in 2004 (Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care), with a second edition released in 2009. The guidelines were intended to direct the development and structure of both new and existing palliative care teams; establish uniform definitions of the essential elements of palliative care; establish national goals for access to palliative care; promote performance measurement and quality improvement initiatives in palliative care services; and foster continuity of palliative care across settings (including home, hospital and hospice). The guidelines fall within eight defined domains of palliative care. (See www.nationalconsensusproject.org.)

National Quality Forum (NQF)

A framework for preferred practices of providing quality palliative care, released in 2006. Practices are defined across the Institute of Medicine’s six dimensions of quality: safe, effective, timely, efficient, equitable and patient-centered. The NQF Framework used the clinical practice guidelines of the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care as a starting point for identifying expectations and best practices in palliative care. (See www.qualityforum.org/palliative.)

Palliative care, palliative medicine

Palliative care (pronounced pal-lee-uh-tiv) is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain and stress of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family. Palliative care is provided by a team of doctors, nurses and other specialists who work together with a patient's other doctors to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness and can be provided along with curative treatment.

Palliative care team, palliative care program

An interdisciplinary, specialized medical team that provides palliative care in the hospital. The team works together with a patient’s own doctor and includes physicians, nurses and social workers. It may also include chaplains, massage therapists, rehabilitation experts, pharmacists, nutritionists and others.