Background: The Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) currently requires Internal Medicine (IM) GME programs to incorporate educational opportunities for training and structured experiences in Palliative and Hospice Medicine. Miscomprehension of the differences between palliative medicine and hospice care is a barrier for IM residents ordering palliative consults as many residents may underutilize palliative medicine if a patient is not appropriate for hospice. Objective: This educational performance improvement (PI) project assessed 3 domains, including Medical Knowledge (MK) of palliative versus hospice medicine at baseline and following a single didactic session. Additionally, the number of palliative consults ordered was used as a surrogate for interpersonal and communication skills (ICS) and patient care (PC) domains. Methods: An 8-question survey and 30-minute didactic session were created based upon experientially-determined issues most confusing to IM residents. Participants included 33 IM residents (PGY-1s-3 s) from July 2018 (first cohort) and 32 (PGY-1 s and any PGY-2s-3 s who did not participate in the first cohort) from July 2019 (second cohort). Results: 65 of a possible 73 residents participated (89% response rate) Pre-test Questions 5, 6, and 8 correct responses were <50% in both cohorts with average scores, respectively, of 43.1%, 35.4%, and 40%. Residents improved on the post-test for Q5, 6, 8 to, respectively, 80%, 86.7%, and 48.3% (t = 7.68, df = 59, p < 001). Correct Q1 responses declined in the first cohort, but clarification for the second cohort improved from pre-test (36.4%) to post-test (65.5%). The total number of palliative consults placed by IM residents increased as well. Conclusions: Baseline MK of palliative versus hospice medicine was <50% on 4/8 questions. A brief educational session significantly improved residents’ short-term comprehension and increased the number of palliative consults.
Faro (2020) 30day readmission prevention program in heart failure patients (RAP-HF) in a community hospital: creating a task force to improve performance in achieving CMS target goals,
Palliative medicine can be essential in helping to align patients’ goals of care with their treatment team. Referrals for palliative medicine are more advantageous when initiated in the emergency department as this is the first point of contact for seriously ill patients being admitted to the hospital. This paper highlights a quality improvement project initiated to address knowledge gaps in palliative medicine with emergency department (ED) staff and to increase referrals for palliative medicine from the ED. The palliative medicine staff held an in-service training with the ED staff which focused on defining palliative medicine and the importance of early consults when the patient presents in the ED. Palliative medicine staff also highlighted the differences between palliative medicine and hospice care, when and how to initiate a consult for palliative medicine, as well as how to contact the palliative medicine division. The results showed that after this educational intervention the number of palliative medicine consults increased three-fold. Before the educational intervention, monthly averages for palliative medicine were 6 and after rose to 18.9 per month.
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