Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care—A Consensus Report 

Assessing the quality of palliative care and end-of-life care programs by using measures that reflect the current evidence base is crucial to ensure safe, cost-effective care. Palliative care programs in U.S. hospitals have grown by 125 percent in the last decade; by 2030, there will be 72.1 million older persons in the United States, more than twice the number as 2000. The need for high-quality and safe palliative care and end-of-life care services will only continue to grow as the population ages. This report presents the results of the evaluation of 22 palliative care and end-of-life care measures considered under the National Quality Forum’s Consensus Development Process, nine of which were undergoing endorsement maintenance.