Deborah Nicholson

For Amolucia, CMS is and has been making strides for the coverage of palliative services not related to hospice. Check out CMS Innovations: Palliative Care Projects: Synthesis of Evaluation Results 2012-2021 (cms.gov) The real challenge, at this time, is getting Palliative care services in your home. In my local area there is one Palliative Care Agency who does home visits. Otherwise, the local hospitals only have outpatient services or in hospital consults focusing on the most critically ill with high risk for mortality, cancer or CHF. Accreditation of cancer centers and AHA guidelines dictate incorporating Palliative principles into their programs driving the programs there. In my opinion the best way to incorporate Palliative Care into practice is just that, incorporate those concepts into everyday practice! Doing so will begin to help folks understand when they need more formalized services. The most simplistic way is to incorporate terminology (Since we can't change what we call it). "Here is a pillow, ice and Tylenol to palliate your knee injury. Taking care of these symptoms will help you to feel better. Continue them at home." With repetition and normalization our culture can change.