ABSTRACT
If a truly holistic approach to care provision for chronic disease patients is to solve for quality, cost, and patient gratification, this chapter addresses some of the most costly and difficult periods of a patient's life as well as the entire disease progression process. Often confused for one another, palliative care and End-of-Life (EOL) care are two concepts born of the same general principle: caring for patients as they wish in a dignified and personalized way, while providing relief from pain and the distress of symptoms. Palliative care and EOL planning and care are important for a number of very different reasons. Both are important to the overall health and well-being of the poly-chronic patient population and fortunately both can be readily integrated into the care circle network (CCN) care model. In any business model, including the CCN, palliative care will require additional, trained, and specialized resources.
