Doylestown Health Patients Can 'Live Their Best Life' With New Palliative Care Program

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Doylestown Health is offering a new palliative care program for patients with chronic illness, to meet community members' needs and improve quality of life.

The program started in September, and its offices are located on the third floor of the Doylestown Health Urgent Care building on Swamp Road. The clinic is staffed with a medical director ,a nurse practitioner, a nurse, and a social worker.

Palliative care is a medical subspecialty for people living with a serious illness. This type of care focuses on the management of pain and other symptoms, support for the caregiver, and coordination of care. Palliative care focuses on relieving the symptoms and stress of any serious illness for patients of any age and any stage of disease.

“The concept is that with these additional services, the patients’ symptoms are managed,” said Anna Thomas, M.D., medical director for the new Doylestown Health Palliative Care program.“There is less stress for the patient, there is less caregiver distress and more support for the family. Patients may choose palliative care because they’re looking for another layer of support in addition to the health care they are already getting.”

While both palliative care and hospice focus on improving the quality of life for a patient with a "life-limiting" illness, there are differences. Patients can continue all of their treatment plans, medications, or doctors’ appointments in order to obtain palliative care services. Palliative care specialists work with the patient and their family to improve symptom control, maximize function, and maintain quality of life.

“One major misunderstanding is that palliative care is just a bridge to hospice," said Mary Beth Mitchell, senior executive director of Doylestown Health’s Care Transformation Strategies. "It’s really more of a comprehensive approach to care for patients who have serious and symptomatic medical conditions. Palliative care helps people with multiple symptoms really optimize their health, so they can live their best life with a chronic condition.”

Some patient diagnoses that might benefit from palliative care services include those with cancer, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and others. Palliative care staff work alongside traditional practices — like primary care doctors, oncologists, cardiologists, and pulmonologists, as a team.

Most patients will be seen at the office, and those who are unable to leave their home will be seen in their homes. Wherever they are seen, a patient’s functional status and symptoms will be assessed to determine a plan to manage their symptoms, which may include pain, shortness of breath or depression or other life-limiting symptoms.

Services provided by Doylestown Health Palliative Care include:

• Intermittent visits with members of Doylestown Health’s interdisciplinary team
• Pain and symptom management
• Assistance with complex care needs in the home
• Exploration and clarification of health care goals and advance care planning
• Transition to hospice care or other services as appropriate

“Our goal is to help our patients avoid hospitalization and keep them healthy and symptom-free for longer," Thomas said. “We’re really excited to provide a palliative care outpatient program where the patients who are earlier on in their illness can begin to receive these services and hopefully live longer as a result.”

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