The Caring Connections Project: Providing palliative care to Medicaid patients with advanced cancer

Palliative care, with its focus on symptom management, patient-centered goals, preparation for life's end, and preservation of quality of life in the face of advancing illness, is a rapidly advancing component of mainstream American medicine. Yet, access to palliative care is often lacking in the community setting and may be further hindered by the presence of healthcare disparities that impact the poor. This article presents a unique approach to assuring the availability of palliative care to Medicaid patients receiving case management services. This descriptive article describes the evolution of a palliative care management pilot program, the Caring Connections Program, beginning with the initial planning and progressing through implementation and provision of services to 56 persons. "Lessons learned" are shared to enable other providers to develop similar programs with success. Patient profiles and intervention strategies are offered to illustrate the work accomplished.