Q. What is palliative care?
A. Palliative or “Comfort Care: is a term that covers an array of services that focus on treating the pain, symptoms and stress of patients and families facing complex or terminal medical conditions. It is offered simultaneously with all other appropriate medical treatments.
Q. What is a palliative care program?
A. A palliative care program, or Transitions, utilizes a variety of hospital resources – medical and nursing specialists, social workers, psychologists, pharmacists, dieticians, and clergy – to effectively deliver high-quality, coordinated care to patients with advanced illness.
Q. Why are there palliative care programs?
A. Patients that are appropriate for palliative care can be those that are in and out of the healthcare setting frequently suffering from symptoms related to their disease process. They are not ready for Hospice care, and not a candidate for Home Health due to their ability to leave their home for needed treatments. A palliative care program covers this “in-between” period of time in their disease process offering consult or management of these symptoms.
Q. Does the Primary Care Physician continue to treat the patient after they are referred to palliative care?
A. Yes, the palliative care team focuses first on serving the primary physician with supplementing and facilitating his or her plan of treatment.
Q. Is palliative care only for actively dying patients?
A. Palliative care is for patients who need treatment of pain and symptoms at any stage of a complex illness. It is also for their family who may be struggling with the impact of a loved one with a chronic or terminal illness.
Q. How is palliative care paid for?
A. Some of the services are billed under Medicare Part B and other health insurance policies. However, not all services that will be provided are billable.
Q. What is the difference between palliative care and hospice?
A. Palliative care supports patients from the point of their chronic or terminal diagnosis throughout the course of their illness. It may be provided along with other medical treatment, including curative treatment. The Medicare Hospice benefit focuses on providing supportive care for patients who have a prognosis of less than six months to live and are not seeking curative treatment.
Q. Who is a Candidate for Transitions?
A. Transitions is appropriate for any individual living with a chronic or terminal disease. These may include, but are not limited to, individuals with:
- COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
- Diabetes
- Heart Disease
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- Stroke
- Cancer
Q. Who can refer patients to Transitions?
A. Anyone can refer patients to the program: The patient, family members, healthcare workers, physicians, and others. The RN Case Manager will contact the Primary Care Physician of each patient referred to obtain orders for a consultation with the Transitions team.