Clinic-Based Palliative Care: Lessons Learned (FR433)

Abstract

•List two ways of incorporating palliative care into other outpatient multidisciplinary healthcare groups.•Describe “pre-palliative care” processes, which may help up-stream patients receive benefits from palliative care clinics.•Explain pre-palliative care clinic processes, which increase effectiveness of the palliative care encounter. The Kaiser Permanente (KP) Healthcare system often has been a leader in the movement of palliative care. In this 1-hour session, we would like to present the Georgia KP model for outpatient palliative care clinics, highlighting the interdisciplinary team approach of physician, nurse, chaplain, social worker, and PharmD. We will use a case-based approach to accentuate new areas for improvement in outpatient palliative care. The cases will highlight 1) the incorporation of palliative care team members into interdisciplinary care such as the heart failure clinic, tumor board, and patient education sessions; 2) pre-clinic phone calls by PharmD to complete med recquisitions, check for interactions, discuss how medicines should be taken, perform symptom assessment, and discover amounts of opioid requirements; 3) explanation and review of a program entitled Advanced Illness Care Coordination (AICC), which is six free sessions with a palliative-trained LCSW focusing on adjustment disorder related to a new diagnosis, coping strategies, and resources; and 4) discussion regarding use of direct access to the clinic and scheduled phone call follow-ups for questions, symptom checks, and direct referrals to home hospice, when needed. The purpose of this talk is to feature best practices and discuss new opportunities in how palliative care can be more broadly used and incorporated into a systemic approach to quality care.