Joining the House of Medicine: Developing Innovative Hospice Inpatient Programs in Acute Care Hospitals

Over half of Americans die in acute care hospitals every year, and many hospitals are struggling to address end-of-life care issues for patients and families. Can hospice care become part of the everyday culture for those dying in acute care hospitals? Faculty will discuss a formal Hospice Service in a large academic hospital working side-by-side with established Palliative Care Consult services. Business plan, education program, policy and procedure development, ICU care approaches and in-house pharmacy innovations will all be discussed along with outcomes data showing ongoing sustainability. In addition, the clinical and administrative barriers between acute care models and hospice inpatient models will be outlined and addressed with tools to resolve differences and integrate practices.