New CAPC Program Maps Specialty Palliative Care Programs

Where can people living with serious illness access specialty palliative care in the United States, and where is that care still out of reach?

Today, there is no comprehensive national source showing where specialty palliative care is available across both hospital and community settings. The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) is working to change that with the launch of the Palliative Care Program Inventory (Program Inventory), a national initiative to map where specialty palliative care programs operate and where gaps in access remain.

The Program Inventory will collect information directly from specialty palliative care programs nationwide, including data on staffing, patient volume and care delivery models. The resulting data will support research, policy and advocacy efforts to better understand—and ultimately expand—access to specialty palliative care across the country.

“People living with a serious illness should be able to access palliative care when and where they need it,” said Brynn Bowman, CEO of the Center to Advance Palliative Care. “But first, we need to understand where that care is available and where it isn’t. The Palliative Care Program Inventory will give the field a clearer picture of the nation’s palliative care infrastructure and help us identify the communities and care settings where more work is needed.”

The Program Inventory includes specialty palliative care programs operating in hospitals as well as community settings, including patient homes, offices and clinics and long-term care settings. The Inventory is currently collecting program operations data for calendar year 2025. It does not collect patient-level data or protected health information, and program data will be reported publicly only in aggregate. Participation is free and open to all U.S. specialty palliative care programs.

CAPC will use the data to produce national reports and insights about the state of specialty palliative care and inform resources and technical assistance for palliative care programs across the country.

Participating programs can also choose to be included in CAPC’s public Palliative Care Provider Directory on getpalliativecare.org, which helps patients, families, clinicians, payers and referral partners locate palliative care services in their communities.

Specialty palliative care programs can participate in the Palliative Care Program Inventory at capc.org/program-inventory.

The Palliative Care Program Inventory is made possible through generous support from the McElhattan Foundation and The John A. Hartford Foundation.