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Resources by Topic: Hospice and palliative care

2021 Long-Term Support Services Telehealth Results Summary
Presents findings of a review of telehealth needs and challenges among long-term services and supports (LTSS) staff in Hawaii based on telephone interviews. Offers policy recommendations to support LTSS providers and family caregivers and highlights provider experiences before and during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Discusses use of telehealth technology, barriers to using telehealth, and desired support among nursing homes, care homes, home health agents, hospice providers, family caregivers, and rehabilitation service providers.
Date: 2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Pacific Basin Telehealth Resource Center
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December 2020 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) December 2020 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services and the mandated report on expanding the post-acute care transfer policy to hospice, ambulatory surgical center services, outpatient dialysis services, physician and other health professional services, hospice services, and a status report and benchmark policy option on the Medicare Advantage program. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 12/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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October 2020 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) October 2020 meeting. Covers an alternative value incentive program that corrects current shortcomings for the skilled nursing facility value-based purchasing program; future research directions in hospice payment policy; balancing financial pressure and equity in Medicare Advantage benchmark policy; and current Medicare indirect medical education policy, concerns, and principles for revising. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 10/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Palliative Care Road Map: A Guide for Living with Serious Illness and Conditions for Patients and Those Who Care for Them
Explanation of the standard palliative care process and important considerations for the patient and/or caregivers in the state of Washington. Includes information on what to expect at healthcare appointments, legal considerations, definitions of common terms, related resources available in Washington, and more.
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Washington State Department of Health, Washington State Office of Rural Health
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Challenges and Facilitators of Hospice Decision-making: A Retrospective Review of Family Caregivers of Home Hospice Patients in a Rural US-Mexico Border Region - A Qualitative Study
Highlights a study on hospice care utilization in the rural U.S.-Mexico border region of Southern California. Explores the decisions made by family care givers around hospice care and discusses the factors that shaped those decisions.
Author(s): Eunjeong Ko, Dahlia Fuentes, Savitri Singh-Carlson, Frances Nedjat-Haiem
Citation: BMJ Open, 10(7), e035634
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
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Home on the Range: Plans and Providers Team Up to Bring Palliative Care to Rural Californians
Report discussing challenges and solutions to expanding palliative care access in rural California. Addresses barriers related to enrollment, staffing, and sustainability as well as strategies for creating partnerships between communities, healthcare systems, human services organizations, and other rural groups. Appendix features a chart listing health plans and rural providers offering palliative care services, with descriptions for each.
Author(s): Kathleen Kerr, Monique Parrish, Lyn Ceronsky
Date: 05/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: California Health Care Foundation
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Availability of Hospice in Rural Pennsylvania
Compares the distribution and number of hospices in rural and urban Pennsylvania counties, provides a descriptive profile of rural Pennsylvania's hospice users, and projects the number of future Pennsylvania hospice users. Includes information from interviews with hospice providers and administrators to help understand challenges and opportunities for stakeholders. Features statistics with breakdowns by rural and urban location and nonprofit or for-profit status, and a county-level map showing locations of Pennsylvania hospices as of 2019.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Lisa Kitko, Joel Segel, Elizabeth Thiede
Date: 05/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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Patient Perceptions of Video Visits Using Veterans Affairs Telehealth Tablets: Survey Study
Highlights a study on the perceptions of Veterans Affairs (VA) patients on the use of video-based telehealth via VA-issued tablets. Compares perceptions of rural and urban veterans and discusses some of the healthcare needs addressed through telehealth, including mental healthcare, primary care, and rehabilitation, among others.
Author(s): Cindie Slightam, Amy J Gregory, Jiaqi Hu, et al.
Citation: Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(4), e15682
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
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Forging a New Frontier: Providing Palliative Care to People with Cancer in Rural and Remote Areas
Shares the results of a literature review examining barriers and challenges related to integrating palliative and cancer care in rural and remote areas.
Author(s): Marie Bakitas, Kristen Allen Watts, Emily Malone, et al.
Citation: Journal of Clinical Oncology, 38(9), 963-973
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy, 2020
Annual review of Medicare payment policies, with recommendations to Congress. Includes discussion on Medicare payment policies directly affecting rural providers and beneficiaries. Addresses payment adequacy for healthcare facilities and services, improving Medicare payment for post-acute care, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D, and the impact of healthcare provider consolidation.
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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