Increasing patient and system value with community based palliative care

Overview

In collaboration with our partners at the Four Seasons Compassion for Life, this project will test a new model for community-based palliative care, which spans inpatient and outpatient settings. The model features interdisciplinary collaboration and the integration of palliative care into the health care system, continuity of care across transitions, and longitudinal, individualized support for patients and families. This expands upon a successful program in four Western North Carolina counties to include an additional ten counties.  With community-based palliative care, care coordination ensures clinical follow-up of patients as they transition across settings. Standardized assessments and data infrastructure facilitate quality monitoring/improvement and high-quality patient care leading to decreased hospital readmissions.

Research Team

Don Taylor, PhD, MPP
Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Assistant Professor of Community and Family Medicine
Associate Professor in the School of Nursing
Affiliate, Duke Global Health Institute
Affiliate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society
Member of the Duke Clinical Research Institute
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute

Matthew Harker, MPH, MBA
Associate Director, Health Policy Evidence Hub
Duke Clinical Research Institute

Funding

This project is funded by Grant Number 1C1CMS331331, a Health Care Innovation Award from the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.