Default Palliative Care Consultation for Seriously Ill Hospitalized Patients

This project aims to test the impact of changing the default mode for palliative care consultation in hospitalized patients from an “opt in” to an “opt out” model. This will be tested in 10-12 Ascension Health hospitals using a stepped wedge design. No KP patients are involved, and Dr. Escobar’s primary role will be to assist in the UH2 (planning phase), which has the following aims: develop electronic medical record algorithms to identify patients meeting palliative care triggers; validate data capture of all proposed outcomes in a sample of de-identified patients; validate methods for tracking adherence to electronically generated palliative care orders; establish mechanisms and materials for notifying patients and providers about the research; complete regulatory compliance components, including defining strategy for IRB approval, trial registry, and DSMB assembly.

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