"If You Built It, They Could Come": Opportunities to Expand Access to Palliative Care.

ABSTRACT

There are growing calls to broaden palliative care access to more populations, diseases, and care settings and to earlier in the disease process; yet, supply of specialty palliative care is not likely to keep pace with demand. This article discusses possible solutions by which to bridge the gap between limited palliative care supply and demand. The proposed solutions include (1) specialist workforce development; (2) alternate models of care; (3) triaging systems; and (4) telemedicine. Education/training, research, and policy mechanisms could operationalize these solutions. With the solutions in hand, the field may be able to increase the reach, sustainability, and equity of palliative care, thereby improving access and enabling a multitude of positive patient, family, and health care system outcomes.