BACKGROUND: A large gap exists between the practice of emergency medicine and palliative care. Although hospice and palliative medicine has recently been recognized as a subspecialty of emergency medicine, few palliative care teams routinely interact with emergency providers, and primary palliative care skills among emergency providers are lacking. OBJECTIVE: To identify the proportion and characteristics of patients who receive a palliative care consultation and arrive via the emergency department (ED). METHODS: A descriptive study of adult ED patients from an urban, academic tertiary care hospital who received a palliative care consultation in January 2005 or January 2009. RESULTS: In January 2005, 100 of the 161 consults (62%) arrived via the ED versus 63 of 124 consults (51%) in January 2009 (p=0.06). Mean days from admission to consultation in January 2005 were six days (standard deviation 11), versus nine days (SD 26) in January 2009 (p=0.35). Three of the 100 consultations (3%) in January 2005 were initiated in the ED, versus 4 of the 64 (6%) in January 2009. CONCLUSIONS: At an urban academic medical center with a well-developed palliative care service, the majority of palliative care consultations were for patients who arrive via the ED. Despite this, only a small minority of consultations originated from emergency providers and consultation was on average initiated days into a patient's hospital stay.
BACKGROUND: A large gap exists between the practice of emergency medicine and palliative care. Although hospice and palliative medicine has recently been recognized as a subspecialty of emergency medicine, few palliative care teams routinely interact with emergency providers, and primary palliative care skills among emergency providers are lacking. OBJECTIVE: To identify the proportion and characteristics of patients who receive a palliative care consultation and arrive via the emergency department (ED). METHODS: A descriptive study of adult ED patients from an urban, academic tertiary care hospital who received a palliative care consultation in January 2005 or January 2009. RESULTS: In January 2005, 100 of the 161 consults (62%) arrived via the ED versus 63 of 124 consults (51%) in January 2009 (p=0.06). Mean days from admission to consultation in January 2005 were six days (standard deviation 11), versus nine days (SD 26) in January 2009 (p=0.35). Three of the 100 consultations (3%) in January 2005 were initiated in the ED, versus 4 of the 64 (6%) in January 2009. CONCLUSIONS: At an urban academic medical center with a well-developed palliative care service, the majority of palliative care consultations were for patients who arrive via the ED. Despite this, only a small minority of consultations originated from emergency providers and consultation was on average initiated days into a patient's hospital stay.
Authors: Sally Moore; Jessica Corner; Jo Haviland; Mary Wells; Emma Salmon; Charles Normand; Mike Brada; Mary O'Brien; Ian Smith Journal: BMJ Date: 2002-11-16
Authors: S L Hughes; F M Weaver; A Giobbie-Hurder; L Manheim; W Henderson; J D Kubal; A Ulasevich; J Cummings Journal: JAMA Date: 2000-12-13 Impact factor: 56.272
Authors: Alexander K Smith; Jonathan Fisher; Mara A Schonberg; Daniel J Pallin; Susan D Block; Lachlan Forrow; Russell S Phillips; Ellen P McCarthy Journal: Ann Emerg Med Date: 2008-10-18 Impact factor: 5.721