Availability of palliative specialty care for adults in community oncology: Results from the 2022 NCORP landscape assessment.

Abstract

e24125 Background: Palliative care promotes timely symptom management, and care planning and improves quality of life in oncology patients. About 60% of community oncology practices sampled in 2015 had outpatient palliative care. This study updates estimates of palliative care resources in community oncology. Methods: Questions from the 2022 Landscape Assessment of National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) (funding provided by 2UG1CA189824) assessed the availability of specialist palliative care providers and ancillary care services, including utilization of advanced practice providers (APPs). Descriptive statistics describe availability of providers and services. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify practice characteristics associated with palliative care specialist availability in 2022. Differences in rates of palliative care specialists, outpatient palliative care, APPs and patient portal use between 2015 and 2022 assessment results were assessed using Chi-Square tests, assuming independent time snapshots of general population characteristics. Results: Most community oncology practices sampled in 2015 had palliative care specialists (76%) and 62% of practices reported having outpatient palliative care. Of the 259 non-pediatric exclusive NCORP practice groups included in the 2022 analyses (Table 1), significantly more had palliative care specialists (86%; p = 0.003) and offered palliative care in the outpatient setting (76%; p = 0.001). Most practices utilized APPs (92%) and had a patient portal (95%), while only 41% had a survivorship clinic. Multivariable analyses demonstrated practices with more adult oncology providers (OR = 1.03, p = 0.039) and those with a designated survivorship clinic (OR = 3.16, p = 0.001), were significantly more likely to have specialty palliative care in the outpatient setting. Conclusions: More practices reported availability of palliative care specialists and outpatient services in community oncology practices in 2022 compared to 2015, with more oncology providers being associated with increased odds of having outpatient specialty palliative care in 2022. Smaller community oncology practices with fewer providers may need support to expand their capacity to provide palliative care. [Table: see text]