In The News

Hospice of the West (HOW), a leading community-based hospice and palliative care organization in Maricopa County, Arizona, urges all Americans, regardless of age, to understand the far-reaching importance of choosing the right healthcare proxy. Also known as a healthcare agent or medical power of attorney, the healthcare proxy makes decisions on behalf of the individual when they are too sick to make their own decisions, adhering to advance directives and personal goals of care, talking with physicians, consulting medical records and making decisions about tests, procedures and treatments.

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By Rhea Go-Coloma, LMSW

Mary, 89, who has a history of heart failure and spinal stenosis, lives at home with her elderly husband. Over the past few months, she’s been admitted twice to the hospital with symptoms of heart failure. Her Medicare Advantage plan used a predictive algorithm to identify Mary as a candidate for home-based palliative care. When seen at home on the first visit, the palliative nurse discussed with her specific goals of care.

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By Rhea Go-Coloma, LMSW

Elisabeth, 89, who has a history of heart failure and spinal stenosis, lives at home with her elderly husband. Over the past few months, she’s been admitted twice to the hospital with symptoms of heart failure. Her Medicare Advantage plan used a predictive algorithm to identify Elisabeth as a candidate for home-based palliative care. When seen at home on the first visit, the palliative nurse discussed with her specific goals of care.

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PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Hospice of the West (HOW), a leading community-based hospice and palliative care organization in Maricopa County, Arizona, announces that its team of specially trained Turn-Key Health Palliative Extensivists™, including palliative care nurses and clinical social workers, now offers education, training and resources to help seriously ill patients and their family caregivers to improve quality of life at the end-of-life. The HOW team is not only experienced in relieving the multiple, socio-economic burdens associated with advanced illnesses, but also has the sensitivity and expertise to conduct meaningful, thoughtful discussions that help to establish goals of care and match treatments to personal wishes.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The doctor pulls up a chair next to his patient, a 74-year-old woman with lung cancer. He tells her she doesn’t need more chemotherapy. Her eyes perk up; has she beaten her cancer? As it turns out, no. Her cancer has metastasized. She only has six months to live, at most. But her doctor is unable to find the right words.

“My cancer’s not gone? I thought it was getting better,” the patient says, bewildered.

“That’s the tough part …” the doctor replies.

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PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Hospice of the West (HOW), a leading community-based hospice and palliative care organization in Maricopa County, Arizona, underscores the critical need for meaningful, thoughtful communication with families, caregivers and providers regarding end-of-life healthcare decisions, and the importance of executing advance directives for all Arizonans. As a passionate advocate for advance care planning (ACP), Rhea Go-Coloma, LMSW, chief administrative officer, HOW, spear-heads an initiative at HOW to provide education, training and resources regarding these issues, as well as guidance that has resulted in 100 percent of HOW’s employees completing pledges regarding their intentions to complete their ACP documents or have a thoughtful conversation on their already established individual advance directives.

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PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Hospice of the West (HOW), a leading community-based hospice and palliative care organization in Maricopa County, Arizona, points to the importance of Advanced Illness Management (AIM) for health plan members with serious illnesses, effectively improving care quality, addressing financial consequences, and coordinating access to care. To further advance satisfaction with care and health plan participation, AIM utilizes a unique Palliative Illness Management™ solution, powered by Turn-Key Health, to deliver a range of services that are highly valued, but may have been missing in traditional models of care: symptom management, nutritional counseling, health system navigation, coordination with physicians, access to care, spiritual support, and more.

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PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Hospice of the West (HOW), a leading community-based hospice and palliative care organization in Maricopa County, Arizona, points to the overall economic burdens, demographics and factors associated with end-of-life care, and the value of Advanced Illness Management (AIM) to enhance care quality and address costs. HOW assesses the impact of a rapidly growing senior population, the likelihood that many will experience some form of serious, life-limiting illness, and the fiscal impact on health systems, healthcare payers and at-risk provider organizations serving seniors.

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PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Hospice of the West (HOW), a leading community-based hospice and palliative care organization in Maricopa County, Arizona, points to the high cost of end-of-life care (EOL) on the healthcare system, highlights its devastating impact on patients and families, and offers solutions for easing the economic fall-out while improving quality and patient/caregiver satisfaction. As payers, policy makers and individuals cope with the impact of costly treatments for those with advanced chronic conditions or life limiting illnesses, HOW offers solutions to Medicare Advantage Plans and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) to alleviate this problematic situation.

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PHOENIX, Ariz.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Hospice of the West, a leading community-based hospice and palliative care organization in Maricopa County, Arizona, points to a new study showing the need for advances in end-of-life care across all diagnoses, with family-reported quality of end-of-life care significantly better for patients with cancer and dementia than for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), cardiopulmonary failure or frailty.

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