Challenge
More people are living longer with chronic and terminal illnesses, and the demand for palliative care is increasing steadily. Despite the increasing need for palliative care services, rural residents have less access to these services than their urban counterparts. People, and in this case, Veterans, dying in rural communities frequently want to remain in their home communities and do not want to travel to urban centers for end-of-life care.
Solution
Atlas Research and the National Rural Health Resource Center (The Center), were awarded a contract from the Veterans Health Administration to develop a plan to enhance coordination and streamline community hospice services for Veterans residing in rural communities. The team worked collaboratively with interested hospice and end-of-life organizations in the VA Midwest Health Care Network service area to develop care coordination models that effectively serve the unique health care needs of a Veteran requiring end-of-life care. The models serve the purpose of bridging the gap between VA and rural community hospice or other end-of-life care providers.
The VA Midwest Health Care Network covers states in the Upper Midwest Region. Five community based hospice and palliative care organizations were selected to pilot various models of collaboration with VA and care for patients under this project. Two of these pilot sites were in Iowa and one each in Minnesota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.
Result
This unique partnership brings together the right people, technology, and systems to improve the quality of Veterans' care during the last phase of life. The care coordination models were shared nationwide with the Veteran Health Administration (VHA), hospice and palliative care organizations, and rural health care stakeholders.