Journal of palliative medicine
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Purpose of report: Understanding the impact of palliative care interventions on intensive care unit (ICU) costs and utilization is critical for demonstrating the value of palliative care. Performing these economic assessments, however, can be challenging. The purpose of this special report is to highlight and discuss important considerations when assessing ICU utilization and costs from the hospital perspective, with the goal of providing recommendations on methods to consider for future analyses. ⋯ ICU utilization and costs are common outcomes in studies evaluating palliative care interventions. Accurate estimation and interpretation are key to understanding the economic implications of palliative care interventions.
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Comparative Study
Methadone Dose Selection for Treatment of Pain Compared with Consensus Recommendations.
Many factors make methadone an appealing option for treatment of pain in patients seen by palliative care; however, complex drug-related properties and variable patient response complicate appropriate conversion ratios from other opioids to methadone. Currently, there is no consensus regarding one accepted conversion method. ⋯ These findings may question the best approach to clinical application of EPERC and Friedman methods and call for more research to determine the safest, lowest, and most effective methadone target dosing selection. Final methadone dosing as received by patients compared favorably with a conservative methadone dosing method that recommends starting doses no higher than 30-40 mg per day.
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Practice guidelines recommend palliative care for patients with advanced cancer, but gaps in access and quality of care persist. ⋯ Interdisciplinary quality improvement was effective to increase GOC discussions and palliative care consults for patients with Stage IV cancer.
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Chaplain services are available in 68% of hospitals, but hospital chaplains are not yet incorporated into routine patient care. ⋯ Families play a fundamental role in the recovery of hospitalized children. Parents view hospital chaplains as members of the healthcare team and report that they play an important role in the well-being of the family during childhood hospitalization. Chaplains positively influence satisfaction with hospital care.