New York, NY (February 28, 2024)—Developing community emergency awareness for pediatric patients, reducing readmission rates to ‘single digits,’ and assisting rural health systems and communities to integrate palliative care are the winning initiatives announced today in the “Innovation” category of the Center to Advance Palliative Care’s (CAPC) third national The John A. Hartford Foundation Tipping Point Challenge.

The initial round of awards in the “Clinical Training” category was announced on February 7. The Challenge was the culmination of CAPC’s five-year campaign aimed at creating a tipping point in the improvement of care delivered to millions of people living with a serious illness.

The goal of the Innovation Challenge was to catalyze innovation that has made positive, breakthrough change in the care of serious illness. Open to all health care organizations across the U.S., nearly 100 initiatives were submitted, including those from hospitals, health systems, clinics, and payers. Each submission was rigorously peer-reviewed by an expert panel and evaluated using six criteria: Impact, Outcomes, Equity, Feasibility, Scalability, and Sustainability. There are three winners (one gold, two silver), and four finalists.

“We were thrilled to see such innovative work happening across the country to bring access to person-centered, high-quality care to patients with serious illness, and their families,” said CAPC CEO, Brynn Bowman. “CAPC is committed to spotlighting these innovations and supporting other health care innovators to learn from, and implement, new strategies to improve care quality.”

The winners are:

GOLD

Initiative: Operation Single Digits
Submitted by: Prospect Medical Holdings – Coordinated Regional Care (CRC), RI in Johnston, Rhode Island

SILVER

Initiative: Changing Palliative Care for Medically Complex Patients
Submitted by: Children’s Nebraska in Omaha, Nebraska

SILVER

Initiative: Washington Rural Palliative Care Initiative – A Statewide Learning Community
Submitted by: Washington State Department of Health in Tumwater, Washington

“This year’s Tipping Point Challenge winners exemplify the power of creativity and collaboration in helping people across the lifespan live well with serious illness,” said Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN, president of The John A. Hartford Foundation. “We congratulate each of the winners and thank all of the entrants for innovatively delivering high-quality, age-friendly serious illness care.”

To arrange an interview, please contact John Zoccola at [email protected] or 267-664-2759.

About the Center to Advance Palliative Care
The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) is a national organization dedicated to increasing the availability of quality, equitable health care for people living with a serious illness. As the nation’s leading resource in its field, CAPC provides health care professionals and organizations with the training, tools, and technical assistance necessary to effectively meet this need. CAPC is part of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. For more information, visit capc.org and tippingpointchallenge.capc.org for more information, and follow @CAPCpalliative.

About The John A. Hartford Foundation
The John A. Hartford Foundation, based in New York City, is a private, nonpartisan, national philanthropy dedicated to improving the care of older adults. The leader in the field of aging and health, the Foundation has three areas of emphasis: creating age-friendly health systems, supporting family caregivers, and improving serious illness and end-of-life care. For more information, visit johnahartford.org and follow @johnahartford.

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