Implementation of clinical triggers for palliative care consultation on a gynecologic oncology inpatient service: A pilot study

Abstract

51 Background: Our objectives were to (1) Assess the feasibility of creating clinical triggers for Palliative Care (PC) consultation on a large gynecologic oncology service and (2) Use triggers to increase PC consultation rates among trigger positive patients. Methods: Clinical triggers for PC consultation are listed below. Over a six month period, patients meeting triggers were prospectively identified and PC consultation was requested for those patients. Retrospective chart review was used to identify patients meeting triggers and gather clinical information. PC consultation rates were compared for patients meeting triggers in the 6 months pre and post trigger implementation. Statistical analysis utilized χ2 test, Fisher’s exact test and independent samples t-tests. Results: There was no difference in PC consultation rates among patients meeting triggers between the pre and post-triggers periods (see table). There was also no change in time from admission to PC consult (median time to PC consultation 1....