The Duke Center for Palliative Care connects Duke University and Duke Health, bringing together clinicians, researchers, learners, patients, and families in the mission of integrating palliative care into the fabric of health systems and communities. We call this “population-based palliative care.” JAMA article
Our center draws on diverse viewpoints, methods, and strategies, and uses techniques of design thinking to develop innovative ways to improve care for people facing serious illness and their families.
The US is facing a health insurance crisis, and our patients feel overwhelmed and hopeless in the face of insurance denials. So, we decided to do something about it. Duke Palliative Care is partnering with a local startup, CounterforceHealth, on a project funded by the National Institute on Aging’s a2 collaborative to evaluate and improve a free online tool that empowers patients to appeal insurance denials. Dr. Kathryn Pollak and David Casarett at Duke are partnering with Neal Shah and Gary Esher at Counterforce to improve the platform’s user interface and evaluate its effectiveness.
