Bruce Feinberg, DO; Brian Kiss, MD; and Michael Kolodziej, MD, discuss challenges and opportunities for better utilizing palliative care to reduce cost and improve quality of care in oncology.
Dr Feinberg notes that currently, only half of appropriate patients receive hospice care, and the average length of stay is 7 days. Dr Feinberg asks Drs Kiss and Kolodziej to discuss ways to improve the utilization of palliative care.
Current guidelines suggest that doctors initiate discussions about palliative care with patients and patients’ loved ones when cancer has advanced or patients begin to have intractable pain, Dr Kiss explains. For this reason, palliative care is often not discussed until late in a patient’s disease course. Dr Kiss suggests that initiating conversations about palliative care early-on is key.
Dr Kolodziej describes the importance of adequate education and training in palliative care in oncology. He explains that discussing palliative care or end-of-life care with patients is among the most difficult of tasks for an oncologist. He notes that historically, there hasn’t been enough focus on educating and training oncologists regarding palliative care.
Another challenge, the result of a lack of palliative care training, is that many terms related to palliative care are misunderstood, adds Dr Kolodziej. Oncologists, he says, need to understand how to differentiate between palliative care, end-of-life care, and hospice care.
Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Listen
Navigating Health Policy in an Election Year: Insights From Dr Dennis Scanlon
April 2nd 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with Dennis Scanlon, PhD, the editor in chief of The American Journal of Accountable Care®, about prior authorization, price transparency, the impact of health policy on the upcoming election, and more.
Listen
Industry Experts Tackle Specialty Drug Access Challenges for Employer Benefit Plans
May 2nd 2024Representatives from ICON plc and Symphony Health joined forces at AXS24 to discuss the challenges of managing high-cost specialty drugs and how they influence self-funded employer benefit plan design and employee access to specialty medications.
Read More