About PCA

PCA, the Palliative Care Alliance, is your health care partner. We’re a team of medical professionals whose goal is to provide palliative and transitional care solutions to patients with serious or long-term illnesses. Our PCA team includes:

Physicians

PCA physicians are proficient in treating advanced illness and managing pain and other symptoms. As a valuable player on the PCA team, the physician:

• Establishes necessary rapport with patient and family
• Ensures the consistency of care between specialists and other physicians
• Emphasizes patient choice and informed decision-making in the development of the care plan
• Communicates regularly with the rest of the team to ensure continuity

Medicare and most other medical insurance plans pay for physician visits under Medicare part B.

Nurses

The PCA nurse works with other members of the team to develop and implement the patient’s plan of care. The nurse functions as a care manager through coordination and implementation of the care plan. The nurse will also play the role of advocate for patients and families as discussions regarding direction of care will often fall to this member of the PCA team.

Palliative services are provided by or under the supervision of registered nurses following a medically approved plan of care developed by the interdisciplinary team. PCA nurses are experts in pain and symptom management and have vast experience in physical assessment and clinical evaluation. Other areas of expertise include:

• Administration of medication and treatments
• Patient and family education and instruction
• Facilitation of other team members
• Coordination of transitions in care
• Emotional and spiritual support

Beyond routine home visits, PCA nurses will be available to help facilitate additional care should the patient require services beyond the palliative scope of care.

Social Workers

PCA social workers are available to provide routine home visits to address the economic, psychosocial, and emotional needs of a patient and family. As an integral member of the PCA team, the social worker’s role is to assist the patient and family in obtaining resources that address the imminent concerns facing the patient.

A wide range of other PCA social work services include:

• Counseling patients and families with the trauma of experiencing a chronic or acute illness
• Arranging resources such as home care, long term care, out-patient therapies, etc.
• Helping patients obtain financial assistance, food assistance and health care coverage
• Facilitating legal assistance including a conservator or power-of-attorney

The PCA social worker works closely with the other team members. In many instances, the social worker shares case management responsibilities with the nurse. Like the other members of the team, the social worker is a patient’s advocate as long as PCA services are being provided.

PCA is Your Health Care Team

We exist to ensure continuity of care for our patients, in the comfort of their own homes, to help them avoid unnecessary hospitalizations

To learn more, please contact us at 602-269-6011. A member of the PCA team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to assist you.