Journal of palliative medicine
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Introduction: Pediatric palliative care (PPC) benefits patients and families, while potentially creating emotional and resource-management burdens for providers. This study's purpose was to characterize the occurrence of deaths attended by PPC providers outside of "business hours." Methods: N = 786 PPC patients at a single center died between 2008 and 2015. ⋯ Time spent attending a death was not significantly longer when other PPC providers were present but was when certain tasks were performed (coordination with medical examiner and memory making). Conclusion: The occurrence of the majority of deaths outside of business hours has significant implications for service delivery models, provider emotional health, and health care value.
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Drug interactions are common and can affect patient outcomes. Drugs that undergo emergency approval have less preapproval drug testing to identify potential interactions. ⋯ Remdesivir is also a nucleotide analogue prodrug that undergoes intracellular metabolic conversions to its active metabolite. We discuss the case of a hospitalized patient in the United States diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia who developed acute pain crisis secondary to a drug-drug interaction between tramadol and remdesivir, and we propose a possible mechanism of interaction.
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Background: Hospice care in rural areas is often characterized by provider shortages and vast geographical service areas to cover, making access to quality end-of-life care challenging. Telemedicine, broadly, is the utilization of interactive televideo (ITV) technology to provide health services over a distance. For over 25 years, telemedicine has been proposed as a solution to address access issues. ⋯ Administratively, by hosting their weekly 15-member interdisciplinary meeting through ITV, HSI saved $29,869 of staff travel time and mileage reimbursement. Conclusions: Our estimates indicate substantial cost saving potential with the use of TH services. Further research is needed to assess the effects of TH utilization on the experiences and subsequent cost of hospice care.
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This is the second article in the psychological elements of palliative care (PEPC) series. This series focuses on how key concepts from psychotherapy can be used in the context of palliative care to improve communication and fine tune palliative care interventions. In this article, we introduce two foundational concepts: frame and formulation. ⋯ It is an ongoing, dynamic process whereby as we learn more about our patients, we integrate that data to improve our explanatory model of who they are. This helps us tailor our interventions to meet their unique needs and respect their life experiences, aptitudes, and vulnerabilities. Both concepts are foundational PEPC; understanding them will prepare readers to continue to the next four articles in the series.