Samaritan Care Pathways
“Think of it like a concierge service with a focus on helping patients and families make informed decisions about their care choices.”
Samaritan’s unique approach honors patients’ wishes, values, and goals of care.
“We are here to care for patients at every stage of their healthcare journey,” says Sara Pagliaro, DO, Samaritan’s Chief Medical Officer. “Too often, patients don’t have the opportunity to express their goals or manage symptoms earlier in their journey.”
Sara Pagliaro, DO
For 45 years, Samaritan has been a trusted provider of care and compassion, guiding families through life’s most tender moments. This dedication to person-centered care is at the heart of Samaritan’s Care Pathways.
Designed to provide comprehensive care for patients with serious illnesses as early as the time of diagnosis, the new service enhances life for patients and their caregivers by offering specialized support across the continuum of primary care, palliative medicine and hospice care.
“The complexity of healthcare is significant, and it’s often not aligned with the patient’s goals for their quality of life,” says Dr. Pagliaro. “We provide a comprehensive approach, knowing that Samaritan’s expertise and clinical staff bring patient goals to the forefront.”
Samaritan Care Pathways is designed to address the multifaceted needs of patients living with advanced illnesses. By integrating various healthcare professionals into an interdisciplinary team, Samaritan provides advanced clinical expertise alongside extraordinary compassion to help patients and families navigate the challenges of serious illness and options for care.
The care goals are simple yet profound:
• Honoring patients’ goals of care
• Navigating each step of a serious illness journey
• Providing exceptional clinical expertise and compassion at every stage
“Think of it like a concierge service with a focus on helping patients and families make informed decisions about care,” she says. “When a patient has multiple medical providers, it’s difficult for them and their loved ones to take in all the information and process it into one decision about next steps. The care team at Samaritan helps patients make informed decisions and guide the care plan.”
Patients and families can access Samaritan Care Pathways by contacting one of Samaritan’s Care Navigators. These nurses help patients understand their options, coordinate care, and ensure that their healthcare services align with their goals and wishes.
Samaritan Care Pathways offers numerous benefits, including:
Continuity of care: Patients receive consistent, expert care from highly skilled providers, including fellowship-trained and board-certified hospice and palliative care physicians and nurses.
Care Coordination: Helping patients live safely at home.
24/7 Call Center: Ensuring help is never more than a phone call away.
Support: Addressing medical, emotional, spiritual and psychosocial needs.
“There’s more to this care than medicine,” Dr. Pagliaro says. “We need emotional, spiritual and psychosocial support, including earlier discussions about grief and bereavement, because the impact of mental health is often overlooked when making decisions about how aggressive we want treatment to be.”
At the core of Samaritan Care Pathways is a commitment to understanding and honoring each patient’s unique goals.
“When we ask about patient goals of care, we want to really understand what gives them joy,” says Dr. Pagliaro. “If we offer options for comfort, support and symptom management, we can help them achieve their goals, and in doing so gain the respect and trust from the patient moving forward.”
By coordinating care into one seamless experience, Samaritan helps patients and families navigate complex healthcare systems.
“You can live well while living with diagnoses such as heart failure, kidney disease, COPD, dementia, cancer and others,” she adds. “Wherever you are on your healthcare journey, Samaritan is here for you – at every step, at every stage.”
856-596-1600 | samaritannj.org
