A new screening tool can determine within seconds which patients might benefit from palliative care discussions. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill developed the tool to help clinicians in surgical intensive care units (SICU) make decisions about palliative care and increase awareness of the model.
The study’s medical advisor, Trista Day Snyder Reid, MD, an assistant professor of surgery at UNC, said she had witnessed medical teams and families struggle with treatment decisions for loved ones. She said palliative care is often a better option than aggressive medical interventions that will not improve or extend a patient’s life. However, medical teams often hesitate to suggest palliative care, increasing the burden and stress on families and patients.
“One of the things that we found at our institution was sometimes we would involve palliative care, but it would happen way down the line when the patient had been in the SICU for a long time already,” Reid said in a statement. “We want palliative care discussions to be happening sooner. And even if we’re not involving palliative care, we want goals of care discussions to happen early so the family has a rapport with the medical team and understands that their family member is really sick.”
Research has shown that offering palliative care consultations early in an ICU stay can improve quality of life and even reduce the lengths of stay in the ICU. However, integrating palliative care into hospital systems can be challenging due to a lack of resources, insufficient training and other factors.
Palliative care is a specialized medical care for people living with serious illnesses, such as cancer and heart disease. Patients in palliative care may receive medical care for their symptoms, along with treatment to cure their illness. Emotional and spiritual support is also available to the patient. Many private health insurers, as well as approximately 130 Medicare Advantage plans, cover palliative care. Medicare Part B will only pay for palliative care provided by physicians, nurse practitioners and clinical social workers.
