Journal of palliative medicine
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Alone, administrative data poorly identifies patients with palliative care needs. ⋯ Adding NLP to the use of administrative codes allows for rapid identification of seriously ill patients with otherwise difficult to detect disease processes and eliminates costly, tedious, and time-intensive manual chart review. This method enables studies to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment, including palliative interventions, for unique populations of seriously ill patients who cannot be identified by administrative codes alone.
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Previous research has not focused on differences at the end of life among Medicare beneficiaries with, and without, a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRDs). ⋯ Future research should examine the informal caregiving costs of caring, which is a significant part of care for an ADRD patient, as the residential setting of the beneficiary highly influences costs.
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Olanzapine is commonly utilized in palliative care for the treatment of nausea, and a known side effect of olanzapine is increased appetite. Olanzapine is also known to cause re-emergence of eating disorders (EDs) in patients utilizing olanzapine for its antipsychotic effects. It is unclear to what extent this may also occur in patients with serious/life-limiting illness. ⋯ It is important to recognize that recurrence of EDs can occur when using olanzapine in the palliative care setting.
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Prognosis communication is one hypothesized mechanism by which effective palliative care (PC) promotes preference-concordant treatment near end of life (EOL), but little is known about this relationship. ⋯ Talking about expectations for remaining length of life during PC consultations is associated with six-month hospice enrollment among people with advanced cancer who endorse preferences for EOL treatment that favor comfort over longevity.