ADVOCACY
You are invited to conduct online advocacy to seek additional cosponsors and thank current cosponsors for their support of the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA), S. 2243.
Please use these buttons to email, tweet and call your U.S. Senators. If your U.S. Senator is not yet a cosponsor of PCHETA, you will be prompted to ask for their support. If your U.S. Senator is already a cosponsor, the message is – thank you!
Join us for this important effort to build bipartisan cosponsorship for PCHETA:
Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Train Act (PCHETA)
Bill Summary
Palliative Care and Hospice Education Programs
Establishes Palliative Care and Hospice Education Programs to support the training of interdisciplinary health professionals, including physicians, nurses, social workers, physician assistants, chaplains, and others in palliative care; support the training and retraining of faculty; provide students with clinical training in appropriate sites of care; and provide training to integrate palliative and hospice care into primary and specialty care practices.
Physician Training
Authorizes grants or contracts to schools of medicine, teaching hospitals and graduate medical education programs to train physicians who plan to teach or practice palliative medicine. Such programs will provide training in palliative medicine through a variety of service rotations, such as consultation services, acute care services, extended care facilities, ambulatory care and comprehensive evaluation units, hospice, home health, and community care programs. Programs will be required to develop specific performance-based measures to evaluate the competency of trainees.
Academic Career Awards
Promotes the career development of physicians, nurses, social workers, physician assistants, chaplains, or other disciplines identified by the Secretary. Eligible individuals must be board certified or board eligible in Hospice and Palliative Medicine or have completed specialty training in palliative and hospice care and have a junior (nontenured) faculty appointment at an accredited school of medicine. Eligible individuals must provide assurance of a full-time faculty appointment in a health professions institution and commit to spend a majority of their funded time teaching and developing skills in interdisciplinary education in palliative care.
Workforce Development
Supports palliative care workforce development through fellowship programs providing short-term intensive courses focused on palliative care. Supporting the team approach to palliative care, the fellowships will provide supplemental training for faculty members in medical schools, nursing schools, or education programs in psychology, pharmacy, social work, physician assistant, chaplaincy, or other health disciplines approved by the Secretary. Such fellowships can upgrade their knowledge and skills for the care of individuals with serious or life-threatening illnesses as well as enhance their interdisciplinary teaching skills.
Career Incentive Awards
Authorizes institutions to provide awards to physicians, advanced practice nurses, social workers, physician assistants, psychologists, chaplains, pharmacists, and other health professionals approved by the Secretary who agree to teach or practice in the field of palliative care for at least 5 years.
Nurse Training
Creates special preferences in existing nurse education law for hospice and palliative nursing, in education, practice and quality grants, workforce development, and nurse retention projects.
Awareness
Provides for the establishment of a national campaign to inform patients, families, and health professionals about the benefits of palliative care and the services that are available to support patients with serious or life-threatening illnesses. Directs the dissemination of information, resources and materials about palliative care services to health professionals and the public in a variety of formats, in consultation with professional and patient stakeholders.
Enhanced Research
Directs the National Institutes of Health to use existing authorities and funds to expand palliative care research to advance clinical practice and improve care delivery for patients with a serious or life-threatening illness.