Palliative Care
The Five Star Palliative Care Program: Compassionate Expertise at Your Service
At Five Star Physicians, our Palliative Care Program is designed to provide compassionate, patient-centered support for residents with serious illnesses or those nearing the end of life. Led by our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Dorothy Seay, and supported by a team of geriatric physicians, specialists, and nurse practitioners, we bring decades of long-term care (LTC) and geriatric expertise to every community we serve.
Leadership in Palliative Care
Our clinical leaders include nationally and regionally recognized experts in hospice and palliative care. They are passionate about delivering care that focuses on comfort, dignity, and quality of life. This team works closely with your community to implement or enhance a Palliative Care Program tailored to your residents’ unique needs.
Comprehensive Palliative Care Services
The Five Star Palliative Care Program goes beyond managing symptoms. It encompasses:
- Personalized care plans aligned with residents’ goals and values.
- Expert symptom management to improve comfort and well-being.
- Family education and support to navigate care decisions with confidence.
- Interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure seamless care across medical, social, and emotional needs.
Partnering for Excellence
Whether your community is building a Palliative Care Program from the ground up or seeking to enhance an existing one, our experienced team is here to help. Together, we can create a program that not only meets the highest clinical standards but also reflects the compassionate care your residents deserve.
Let us help you provide the support your residents and their families need. Contact us today to learn more about the Five Star Palliative Care Program!
Our Palliative Care Approach—The Right Approach
Palliative Care is a multi-disciplined approach to care, with primary clinical focus on relieving pain and providing comfort to the patient in their transition of life. Care teams should be comprised of physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, chaplains, nutritionists, rehab specialists, pharmacists, specialists and family members. Secondary is the work of the Palliative Care team to help the patient and family identify their goals and priorities and provide oversight and support through today’s complicated healthcare systems. In this secondary, but also critical role, the Palliative Care team provides support to families (caregivers) to help with their own stresses as well.
Three Primary Tiers of Palliative Care
- Relieve pain and other burdensome symptoms
- Educate and consult a patient and their family on their goals and to help them through the complicated health care system
- Provide support to the caregivers and families who can find themselves in new, stressful situations as well
In addition to providing the above care and support, a strong program affords a community health care cost savings. Five Star Physicians has the expertise to build and implement Palliative Care financial models.
The Clinical and Operational Challenges
While Palliative Care is gaining momentum—it has become a part of our many clinical care discussions and written about in our various journals, and we all agree in principle to its benefits–it continues to be slow to take hold. Even within those hospitals and other communities like our nursing homes that promote their own Palliative Care program do not correctly utilize it. Reasons typically fall into two categories:
- The hospital/Long Term Care Community did not build the correct processes and procedures to ensure its success and proper utilization
- The hospital/Long Term Care Community did not (and do not) get all the stakeholders to believe and embrace in the Palliative Care program
Five Star can address and repair both concerns above. A Five Star Palliative Care program really does start with education and mentorship of your caring staff. It is also served and supported by processes and procedures that need to be discussed and implemented. And finally, what is provided in education, mentorship, processes and procedures needs to be constantly enhanced, managed and adhered to in order for success. Five Star Physicians is excited to discuss your palliative care program needs.
