Who is coordinating pediatric concurrent hospice care?

Abstract

Among the 40,000 US children who die with a health-related condition, more than a third use hospice care services. 1 Murphy SL Mathews TJ Martin JA Minkovitz CS Strobino DM. Annual summary of vital statistics: 2013-2014. Pediatr. 2017; 139https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-3239 Crossref Scopus (112) Google Scholar , 2 Keim-Malpass J Cozad MJ Svynarenko R Mack JW Lindley LC. The medical complexity of children receiving pediatric concurrent hospice care. J Spec Pediatr Nurs. 2021; (Epub) PubMed Google Scholar , 3 Lindley LC Cohrs AC Keim-Malpass J Leslie DL. Children enrolled in hospice care under commercial insurance: A comparison of different age groups. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2019; 36: 123-129 Crossref PubMed Scopus (10) Google Scholar One of the newest models for pediatric hospice care delivery is concurrent hospice care, which has been a provision for children enrolled in Medicaid since the signing of the Affordable Care Act. 4 Lindley LC. Health care reform and concurrent curative care for terminally ill children: A policy analysis. J Hosp Palliat Nurs. 2011; 13: 81-88 Crossref PubMed Scopus (35) Google Scholar In this approach, children under 21 years are able to enroll in hospice care while simultaneously receiving continued treatment for their terminal illness. Utilization of concurrent hospice care among children has steadily increased from 30% to 75% over the past decade. 2 Keim-Malpass J Cozad MJ Svynarenko R Mack JW Lindley LC. The medical complexity of children receiving pediatric concurrent hospice care. J Spec Pediatr Nurs. 2021; (Epub) PubMed Google Scholar ,5 Lindley LC Richar CS Hoit T Steinhorn DM. The cost of pediatric concurrent hospice care: An economic analysis of relevant cost components, review of the literature, and case illustration. J Palliat Med. 2021; (epub) Crossref PubMed Scopus (6) Google Scholar