Reconsidering the Hospice Comfort Kit
The comfort kit – a package containing a few doses of common symptom-management medications – used to be a standard offering in hospice. Many have discontinued that practice to cut medication costs, but that may be a mistake.
The hospice comfort kit can help reduce many non-medication costs. It can also drive quality and help with emergency preparedness.
Enclara Pharmacia’s latest ebook, The Role of Comfort Kits in Hospice Quality Improvement and Cost Containment, is a must-read for hospice leaders and clinicians. Combining published research with the perspectives of real-life hospice professionals, it offers a fresh look at an old tool.
Readers will learn how comfort kits may help deliver these benefits and more:
- Reduced ancillary costs associated with emergency medication dispensing and delivery
- Prevention of major cost drivers, such as emergency department utilization and unscheduled nurse visits
- Compliance with emergency-preparedness regulations – a growing concern due to the increase in extreme weather events
- Improved quality scores, including nearly every area of the CAHPS caregiver survey
Whether your hospice uses comfort kits or not, this resource can help you understand both the costs and benefits of your care model.
