As the population ages, the number of people living with serious, complex and chronic illness is increasing, bringing a similar rise in patient and health system need – and demand – for palliative care. However, delivery of high-quality hospice and palliative care cannot take place without sufficient numbers of healthcare professionals with appropriate training and skills.
Interdisciplinary Education and Training
The Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA) would create new education centers and establish career incentive awards for physicians, nurses, physician assistants, social workers and other health professionals. The bill would also implement an awareness campaign to inform patients and health professionals about the benefits of palliative care and hospice and the services available to support patients with serious or life-threatening illness, as well as direct funding towards palliative care research to strengthen clinical practice and health care delivery.
Graduate Medical Education
AAHPM believes policymakers can help build a health care workforce more closely aligned with the nation’s evolving health care needs through efforts to close the large gap between the number of health care professionals with palliative care training and the number required to meet the needs of the expanding population of patients with serious illness or multiple chronic conditions.
Reforming the nation’s graduate medical education (GME) system to support fellowship training in Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM) and grow the HPM physician workforce is essential to meeting the “triple aim” of health care reform.