Identifying Areas of Improvement for Care of Hospice-Enrolled Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department (QI720)

While there are some emergencies that require hospice-enrolled patients to present to the Emergency Department (ED) (such as lacerations or equipment malfunction), some hospice-related and predictable emergencies may be equally or superiorly treated at home or inpatient hospice (such as shortness of breath or pain). Although Emergency Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine physicians have opinions on why hospice-enrolled physicians present to the Emergency Department, there is little research on the most common reasons leading hospice-enrolled patients presentation to the ED.
Source: Journal of Pain and Symptom Management - Category: Palliative Care Authors: Source Type: research