Enhancing provider knowledge and patient screening for palliative care needs in chronic multimorbid patients receiving home-based primary care.

Diana Gosálvez Prados — last modified 6/03/2015 19:32

Description:
This article describes a pilot model to increase palliative care (PC) knowledge and collaboration among providers and to systematically identify chronic multimorbid home care patients who would benefit from focused discussion of potential PC needs. Thirty health care providers from a home-based primary care team attended interdisciplinary trainings.

How to cite:

Wharton T, Manu E, Vitale CA. Enhancing provider knowledge and patient screening for palliative care needs in chronic multimorbid patients receiving home-based primary care. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2015 Feb;32(1):78-83. Available at: http://ajh.sagepub.com/content/32/1/78.long

Document Type:
Article

Creation date:
6/03/2015

The Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) tool was used to trigger discussions of potential palliative needs at team rounds for patients who scored below a cutoff point on the tool. Palliative Performance Scale implementation added little burden on nurses and triggered a discussion in 51 flagged patients. The tool successfully identified 75% of patients who died or were discharged. Screening was systematic and consistent and resulted in targeted discussions about PC needs without generating additional burden on our PC consult service. This model shows promise for enhancing collaborative patient care and access to PC.