Background: Patients who are frequently admitted to Medicine inpatient services comprise a distinct subset of readmitted patients about whom not much is known. A prior study collected data on characteristics of 153 frequently hospitalized patients. [...]
Background: Early palliative care can be beneficial for patients and the health system alike. The principle of palliative care is to improve quality of life through patient-centric treatment goals and comfort measures. However, many patients [...]
Background: Prognostication of survival in advanced cancer patients has been challenging and contributes to poor illness understanding. Disagreements among providers about prognosis occur and is a less studied phenomenon. We asked the Surprise Question (SQ), [...]
Background: Chronic pain is a healthcare problem that significantly affects the physical and mental health of patients and impact their quality of life. It can complicate many disorders and represents a common symptom of rheumatologic [...]
Case Presentation: The patient is a 74 year old woman with past medical history of dementia and an aggressive right upper lobe cavitary mass who presented with post-obstructive pneumonia. The lung mass was diagnosed two [...]
Background: Increasing number of palliative care patients are cared for by hospitalists, but the value of hospitalist on end-of-life (EOL) care is scarcely reported. The study aims to evaluate the effect of hospitalist care on [...]
Case Presentation: The patient is a 74 year old woman with past history of dementia and an aggressive right upper lobe cavitary mass who presented with post-obstructive pneumonia. The lung mass was diagnosed two years [...]
Background: Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) shocks can be traumatic for patients and families, particularly at the end of life. Studies estimate between 51-65% of ICDs remain active at time of death, with 24-31% of patients [...]
Background: In 2011, sepsis accounted for more than $20 billion (5.2%) of total US hospital costs. The CDC estimates that hospitalizations for sepsis or septicemia increased from 621,000 to 1,141,000 in 2000 and 2008 respectively. [...]
Background: Palliative care (PC) has been shown to be cost-effective and improve the quality of life for patients facing incurable and life-threatening illness. However, identifying patients benefiting from PC consultation remains a challenge in the [...]
Background: Patient care at the end of life is largely based on experience of provider and the care that is delivered may not be aligned with what was detailed by patient preference via prior [...]
Background: Palliative care (PC) has been shown to improve the quality of life for patients facing life-threatening illness and their families. PC screening tools have been successfully used in identifying cancer patients in need of [...]
Background: Reversing the life trajectory of hospitalized patients can be challenging. Sixty percent of Americans die in acute care hospitals. Identification of the patient care goals and directives frequently happens after many days of aggressive, [...]
Background: As chronic illnesses are claiming majority of deaths in United States, it is very important that we identify patients with chronic illnesses who have shortened life expectancy and prioritize their needs for palliative care. [...]
Background: Prognostication of survival in advanced cancer patients has been challenging and contributes to poor illness understanding. Prognostic disagreement occurs even amongst providers and is a less studied phenomenon. We introduced the Surprise Question (SQ), [...]