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Two years after palliative care gained recognition as an official subspecialty, an increasing number of hospitals have tapped the approach to improve care quality for patients with serious or chronic conditions, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Seeking to improve patients' quality of life and promote appropriate care, palliative care specialists help coordinate communication among physicians and assist patients and their families in weighing difficult care decisions, presenting them with all available options. According to the Center to Advance Palliative Care, 1,299 hospitals currently have palliative care programs, up from 632 programs in 2000. Nationwide, 53 percent of hospitals with more than 50 beds now offer some form of palliative care. Hospitals looking to introduce or expand palliative care programs, meanwhile, can send staff for training at one of six designated Palliative Care Leadership Centers. Although palliative care has been shown to cut hospital costs by reducing use of unnecessary treatments, several obstacles continue to stunt adoption. Specifically, Medicare and other commercial health plans reimburse only for physicians' time spent on palliative care, leaving hospitals to cover costs for care provided by other members of palliative care teams, which often include nurses and social workers. In addition, there are limited training opportunities for palliative care providers, with only 50 fellowships available nationally. Saying that palliative care specialists are a key resource as patients increasingly face a "bewildering array of [treatment] options," one oncologist who helped to launch the specialty says the nation needs to more than double the number of palliative care fellowship opportunities (Boulton, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/30/08).