CCCC In Action

Creating a Vision of Community-Based Palliative Care in California

CCCC is developing a white paper that creates a vision for the evolution of community-based palliative care in California, thanks to funding from the California HealthCare Foundation. CCCC will examine incentives and barriers to palliative care in community-based settings, highlight existing models, and outline steps needed to increase patients' access to these services in California. The paper will be released in late Fall.

 

CCCC's PREPARED Nursing Home Project Makes a Difference

CCCC's PREPARED project is featured in an issue brief recently released by the California HealthCare Foundation. An independent evaluation of the PREPARED project showed a statistically significant increase in the nursing home as the site of death for residents who died, a modest reduction in hospitalizations from 9.6 per month per facility to 8.9, and a 13% decrease in the number of family members who thought their dying loved one was not always treated with respect.

 

Julie Sandoval, Michael Demoratz &

Karl Steinberg Join CCCC Board

CCCC would like to welcome Julie Sandoval, MD, Regional Medical Director, Complex Needs Programs of The Permanente Medical Group, Michael Demoratz, PhD, LCSW, CCM, Director of Business Development, Amada Homecare, and Karl Steinberg, MD, CMD, Associate Medical Director, Scripps Coastal Medical Center, to the CCCC Board of Directors.

 

CCCC's YouTube Channel

Visit CCCC's YouTube Channel to see our latest video - Facilitating Meaningful Conversations About Goals of Care - a teaching tool to compliment CCCC's POLST training program.

 

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Policy Update - Pending California Legislation

AB 507 (Hayashi) - Pain Management

This bill would remove legal barriers to pain management and practice in California.

 

Sponsor: No. California Pain Initiative 

Status: Passed by Assembly. Moves to Senate.

 

SB 135 (Hernandez) - Hospice Facilities

This bill would create a specific licensing category for inpatient hospices, known as "congregate living health facility-hospices."

 

Sponsor: California Hospice and Palliative Care Association 

Status: In Senate Appropriations Committee.

 

SB 177 (Strickland) - Congregate Living Health Facilities

This bill would raise the bed limit for congregate living health facilities that serve terminally ill patients in counties that have populations of more than 400,000, but less than 500,000, persons.

 

Sponsor: Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care 

Status: In Senate Appropriations Committee.

  

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Research

Palliative Care's Positive Outcomes

The benefits of palliative care to our nations' hospitals and the latest supporting research are highlighted in an article by Diane Meier, MD, and J. Brian Cassel, PhD, in the March issue of Trustee magazine.  

 

Intervention Reduces Hospital Admissions

A study funded by the Commonwealth Fund found that an intervention designed to identify and manage acute conditions and status changes among nursing home residents resulted in a 17% reduction in hospital admissions.

  

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