Driving operational success in home-based palliative care with Sarah Kivett, BSN, RN, CHPN, Director of Palliative Care Services, Hospice & Palliative Care of Iredell County

In this episode of the Post-Acute POV, our host, Melissa Polly, director of marketing for home & hospice, sits down with Sarah Kivett, BSN, RN, CHPN, director of palliative care services, Hospice & Palliative Care of Iredell County. The topic for their conversation is driving operational success in home-based palliative care and how to start a palliative care program within your organization.

Join Melissa and Sarah as they discuss the foundation of success for a new home-based palliative care program: ensuring organizational buy-in, understanding payer sources, being patient, and more. This episode will provide a firsthand look at obstacles your organization may face when starting a palliative care program and tips for finding success. Listen to their discussion below.

Topics discussed during today’s episode:

1. [01:11 – 03:23]: Sarah provides her origin story and explains outpatient palliative care and its importance.
2. [03:35 – 06:05]: She then shares her top tips for creating a successful palliative care program, including organizational buy-in and a strong understanding of palliative care.
3. [6:21 – 9:20]: Next, Sarah and Melissa discuss the reasons organizations may fail when starting a palliative care program, including being impatient and failing to understand their payer sources.
4. [9:46 – 13:01]: Sarah walks us through how Iredell’s hospital-based palliative care program works and how clinicians document using the EHR.
5. [13:22 – 17:48]: They then discuss the types of interoperability that are key in palliative care, including e-referrals and direct messaging.
6. [18:06 – 19:38]: Finally, Sarah describes how CommonWell and Carequality have helped her team drive operational success.
7. [19:54 – 21:54]: Sarah leaves us with advice for organizations considering starting their own palliative care program.

Resources

• Learn more about MatrixCare at: https://www.matrixcare.com/
• Find out more about Hospice & Palliative Care of Iredell County: https://www.hoic.org/
• Listen to more episodes of the Post-Acute POV