Embedded Palliative Care in the MICU

Summary

The goal of this study is to investigate whether embedding a hospice and palliative care practitioner within a medical intensive care unit will improve patient outcomes and healthcare usage. The practitioner will work solely within the medical intensive care units and offer timely as well as proactive consultations based on clinical criteria and estimated mortality risk. The study team will compare patients seen by the practitioner to patients in an adjacent ICU and historical patients to determine whether patient care is improved by this intervention.

Detailed Description

The study goal is to determine whether an embedded palliative care practitioner in the medical ICU improves patient outcomes, palliative care/hospice utilization, and healthcare quality metrics. The medical ICUs included in this study are comprised of two geographically co-located units that provide care for medically complex patients from a large tertiary referral area. Palliative care services are currently available as a consultative service at the ICU clinicians' discretion for patients with palliative needs such as complex goals of care, advanced symptom management, or chronic critical illness. Under the current consultation model, palliative care consultation is requested in a minority of critically ill patients and consults occur on average 5-14 days after a patient's admission. Hospice services are similarly available on a consultative basis for patients that the primary team has determined are suitable for hospice, however, logistical limitations of hospice consultation may lead to delays in inpatient hospice transfers and home hospice discharges. This study's intervention is to embed a palliative care/hospice practitioner within the medical ICUs as a dedicated palliative care and hospice consultant who will offer proactively triggered palliative care consultations early in a patient's ICU stay as well as immediate availability for standard-of-care palliative care and hospice consultations.

Eligibility Criteria

Interventions