Criteria

The Circle of Life Award honors programs that

• are striving to equitably provide effective, patient-centered, timely, safe, and efficient palliative and end-of-life care
• are striving to implement the domains of the National Consensus Project Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care and the corresponding preferred practices identified by the National Quality Forum
• show innovation and serve as models for the field particularly in moving palliative care upstream
• support hospitals' and health organizations' efforts to improve palliative and end-of-life care 
• build awareness of the importance of serving people with life-limiting illnesses throughout the continuum of  their illness and supporting those close to them
• are actively working with other health care organizations and the community across the continuum of care

All organizations or groups in the United States that provide palliative or end-of-life care are eligible for the award.