Recommendation:
Palliative care services are available to patients either on-site or by referral.
“Therefore, it is the Panel’s expert consensus that combined standard oncology care and palliative care should be considered early in the course of illness for any patient with metastatic cancer and/or high symptom burden.
Palliative care services include, but are not limited to, the following:
American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, Optimal Resources for Cancer Care: 2020 Standards, Standard 4.5 Palliative Care Services
No data currently available. Varies widely from program to program.
Palliative Care services are billed like any other medical service. Bills are submitted to Medicare Part B, private insurance, and Medicaid. One large difference in the way palliative care providers bill is that they will often bill based on time rather complexity, because of the lengthy goals of care discussions. Many providers will also use the Advance Care Planning codes since much of their visit time is spent in dialogue around wishes for future care.
ACCC Member Program: Gibbs Cancer Center & Research Institute, Spartanburg, S.C.
In 2012, the Gibbs Cancer Center (GCC) embedded a palliative care clinic within their medical oncology practice. The GCC provided clinic space to the palliative care team and also shared experienced oncology nurse practitioners who received additional training in palliative care principles and practices to staff what became to be known as the Supportive Care Clinic (SCC).
The overall goal of the SCC is to provide whole-person care to both the cancer center's patients and their families.
Palliative Care team: Board-certified palliative medicine MDs, nurse practitioners, social worker, RN, chaplain, LPN, and palliative medicine fellows.
Clinic services: