The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review developed an evidence report on palliative care in the outpatient setting to support a public meeting of the New England Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council (CEPAC) in March 2016.
More than 90 million Americans live with at least 1 chronic illness, and 7 of 10 Americans die from chronic disease.1 As this population grows, unmet needs for symptom relief and comfort care have become more acute.2 Palliative care is a management approach focused on improving quality of life (QOL) through relief of pain, symptoms, and distress of serious illness.3 It can be administered in a number of settings; delivery in the outpatient setting has been identified as the next frontier in palliative care, potentially maximizing delivery and convenience of needed services.3