Darren DeWalt
Darren DeWalt, MD, MPH, is board-certified in pediatrics and internal medicine. Dr. DeWalt led the National Improving Performance in Practice (IPIP) design team and helped to implement IPIP in 7 states. Dr. DeWalt is a former Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). He has worked extensively in his own primary care practice on quality improvement and patient centered medical home and he currently advises the Cincinnati Beacon Community on their diabetes improvement and PCMH implementation collaborative. For the past 2 years he has provided technical assistance to several Aligning Forces for Quality communities to help them plan and implement ambulatory quality improvement programs on a regional level. He is the principal investigator of the North Carolina Infrastructure for Maintaining Primary Care Transformation grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
For individuals living with complex, often chronic conditions, and their families, palliative care can provide relief from symptoms, improve satisfaction and outcomes, and help address critical mental and spiritual needs during difficult times. Now more than ever, there is growing recognition of the importance of palliative care services for individuals with serious illness, such as advance care planning, pain and symptom management, care coordination, and team-based, multi-disciplinary support. These services can help patients and families cope with the symptoms and stressors of disease, better anticipate and avoid crises, and reduce unnecessary and/or unwanted care. While this model is grounded in evidence that demonstrates improved quality of life, better outcomes, and reduced cost for patients, only a fraction of individuals who could benefit from palliative care receive it. 
