USMLE Forum Archives - Miscellaneous - About Palliative Care Training
About Palliative Care Training
adonis123 - 12-06-10 05:26
1) Lifestyle is good. Typical day can vary based on full/part time dedication to hospice. Night call is sometimes arduous, but typically handled via phone. Day activities can vary from driving all over to see patients at other facilities to rounding on in-patients at dedicated hospice facility? Meetings with the hospice team(s) occur regularly and can last for several hours. Topics include patients who have died, current patient's nutrition, well-being, pain levels/management, etc.
2) Salary can range anywhere from 120,000 to 220,000, but no clear information on an average. Here's some figures I have been able to find:
Medicare reimbursement of hospice physicians: If the physician is a consultant for the hospice organization the physician will bill under Medicare Part B, if the physician is directly associated with the hospice (e.g... employed) the physician will bill the Hospice center and the center will bill under Medicare Part A. The physician's compensation as an associate of hospice will then be determined by the appropriate contract. It's the contract part that falls off. If the physician is billing under standard Medicare Part B then I would think the salary range above would vary based on patient load just like FP/IM, etc.
3) Primary specialties typical to enter hospice: IM/FP/EM and to a lesser extent Peds/PM&R/Psychiatry/Onc. There are ten ABMS boards that are eligible to obtain a subspecialty certification in Hospice & Palliative Medicine: IM, Anesthesiology, EM, FP, OB/GYN, Peds, PM&R, Psych/Neuro, Rads, and Surgery. (The AOA offers a certificate of added qualification through FP, IM, Neuo/Psych, PM&R).
4) Training is via a 12 month fellowship following successful completion of a residency in an eligible specialty. (Although it appears its not required as even medicare states the physician may be a PCP)
Not everyone who works in palliative care works for a hospice. That is a common misconception. How you get paid also varies and depends mostly on the healthcare environment you work in. Profit or non-profit? Academic vs. private practice? Salary vs. capitation? Medicare, commercial insurance, private pay, or a combination? What insurance will your practice accept, and how much do you collect? All of this affects the bottom line.
Pediatric hospice / palliative care data are probably even more scarce, and there are probably only a handful of dedicated university programs in the US.
Sources:
1) End-of-Life/Palliative Education Resource Center (www.eperc.mcw.edu).
2) American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine. www.aahpm.org
adonis123 - 12-06-10 05:26
1) Lifestyle is good. Typical day can vary based on full/part time dedication to hospice. Night call is sometimes arduous, but typically handled via phone. Day activities can vary from driving all over to see patients at other facilities to rounding on in-patients at dedicated hospice facility? Meetings with the hospice team(s) occur regularly and can last for several hours. Topics include patients who have died, current patient's nutrition, well-being, pain levels/management, etc.
2) Salary can range anywhere from 120,000 to 220,000, but no clear information on an average. Here's some figures I have been able to find:
Medicare reimbursement of hospice physicians: If the physician is a consultant for the hospice organization the physician will bill under Medicare Part B, if the physician is directly associated with the hospice (e.g... employed) the physician will bill the Hospice center and the center will bill under Medicare Part A. The physician's compensation as an associate of hospice will then be determined by the appropriate contract. It's the contract part that falls off. If the physician is billing under standard Medicare Part B then I would think the salary range above would vary based on patient load just like FP/IM, etc.
3) Primary specialties typical to enter hospice: IM/FP/EM and to a lesser extent Peds/PM&R/Psychiatry/Onc. There are ten ABMS boards that are eligible to obtain a subspecialty certification in Hospice & Palliative Medicine: IM, Anesthesiology, EM, FP, OB/GYN, Peds, PM&R, Psych/Neuro, Rads, and Surgery. (The AOA offers a certificate of added qualification through FP, IM, Neuo/Psych, PM&R).
4) Training is via a 12 month fellowship following successful completion of a residency in an eligible specialty. (Although it appears its not required as even medicare states the physician may be a PCP)
Not everyone who works in palliative care works for a hospice. That is a common misconception. How you get paid also varies and depends mostly on the healthcare environment you work in. Profit or non-profit? Academic vs. private practice? Salary vs. capitation? Medicare, commercial insurance, private pay, or a combination? What insurance will your practice accept, and how much do you collect? All of this affects the bottom line.
Pediatric hospice / palliative care data are probably even more scarce, and there are probably only a handful of dedicated university programs in the US.
Sources:
1) End-of-Life/Palliative Education Resource Center (www.eperc.mcw.edu).
2) American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine. www.aahpm.org
Page 1
Page 1