Two hospitalists recently discussed a patient admit-ted for advanced emphysema. The patient had full code status, showed limited understanding of his con-dition, and was readmitted frequently. The hospitalists previously attempted to discuss goals of care, but they felt unsuccessful and cited time constraints and hesi-tancy with facilitating the complex goals of care discus-sions. One physician said to her colleague, “Where I trained, we could consult palliative care to help with complex patients. Our position for a palliative care spe-cialist remains unfilled after 2 years. When will we get some help?” This situation is one example of a national crisis in providing accessible and responsive palliative care. Palliative care is specialized medical care; it is appropri-ate for patients of any age with any stage and type of
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Kamal et al. (2015) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched one closely related paper. Consider it for comparative context: