Palliative Medicine
What is Palliative Medicine?
Palliative medicine serves patients and loved ones facing the symptoms and stresses of complex and serious illnesses.
The palliative medicine team will have conversations with you and your loved ones about your health and your values, goals, and options. We will work with you to design a care plan that helps you to maximize the quality of your life.
The palliative medicine team can help you to:
- Understand your options
- Manage your symptoms, including pain, shortness of breath, and fatigue, as well as anxiety and depression
- Address your emotional and spiritual needs
- Develop care plans and advance directives that respect your choices
- Support your family and friends
- Coordinate your care with other providers and services in the hospital and in the community
Who can benefit from palliative medicine services?
Palliative medicine services can help patients of all ages with complex serious, chronic, or terminal illnesses, including:
- Cancer
- Heart disease
- Kidney disease
- Lung disease
- Neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other dementias
These services can benefit patients who are experiencing repeated emergency department visits or hospital admissions related to their health conditions.
Palliative medicine services can also support a patient’s loved ones as they navigate a patient’s illnesses.
When do palliative medicine services help?
Palliative medicine services offer a continuum of care and can benefit patients at any stage of a serious illness. Ideally, they are introduced soon after a diagnosis. They can be provided with or without treatments meant to improve health. Palliative medicine services can include hospice care, which supports patients in the last months of life when curative and restorative treatments are no longer appropriate or no longer desired.
Who provides palliative medicine services?
At UHS Hospitals, the inpatient palliative medicine team includes physicians, nurse practitioners, and social workers. The team works closely with other disciplines, including nursing, pharmacy, care management, and spiritual care, to care for patients and their loved ones.
Depending on an individual’s plan of care, the inpatient palliative medicine team may place a referral to an outpatient palliative care program or a hospice program.
Most insurance plans, including Medicaid and Medicare, cover palliative medicine services.
How can someone receive palliative medicine services?
Accessing Inpatient Palliative Care
The Inpatient Palliative Care Team at UHS provides patient centered care for individuals facing serious or life limiting illness.
Our interdisciplinary team works in close partnership alongside your Attending team to deliver an added layer of support during your hospital stay. Our team can assist with:
- Expert symptom management to improve comfort and quality of life with individuals who have a chronic or life limiting illness.
- Goals-of-care discussions to help guide complex medical decisions
- Emotional and psychosocial support for patients and families
- Care coordination to ensure a seamless experience across your healthcare team
Patients and family members may request and discuss referrals with the Attending team at any point during the hospital stay.
If you have questions regarding the Inpatient Palliative Medicine service please contact (607) 763-6982.
Accessing Outpatient Palliative Care
Referrals to our consultative outpatient program can be requested by you or a family member, to a member of your care team.
We offer convenient telehealth appointments designed to support your care while keeping your primary/referring team informed.
- Video visits are available Monday–Friday with expert recommendations from our staff including a Nurse Practitioner (NP) who provides guidance directly to your referring provider and Social Work for emotional support and care coordination.
- Coordinated care: Any medication adjustments are managed in collaboration with your primary care team
This model ensures you receive specialized support while maintaining continuity with the providers who know you best.
If you have questions regarding the Outpatient Palliative Medicine service please contact (607) 763-5076.
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