Symptom Distress: Implementation of Palliative Care Guidelines to Improve Pain, Fatigue, and Anxiety in Patients With Advanced Cancer.

BACKGROUND: The integration of palliative care into standard oncology care is supported by research to improve quality of life and symptom distress in patients with advanced cancer. In 2016, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) released practice guidelines for oncology palliative care that emphasized interprofessional assessment and management of this patient population. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of clinical guidelines on symptom distress in patients with advanced cancer. METHODS: In two oncology palliative care clinics, the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) scores for pain, fatigue, and anxiety were measured prior to consultation (T1) and at two subsequent visits (T2 and T3). A standardized documentation template was used to measure fidelity for key guideline components. FINDINGS: Pain, fatigue, and anxiety ESAS scores were statistically lower from T1 to T3. The frequency of patients having a decrease of 2 or more points for all symptoms increased compared to baseline data. There was 100% compliance to the documentation template during the guideline implementation.

Structured, proactive care coordination versus usual care for Improving Morbidity during Post-Acute Care Transitions for Sepsis (IMPACTS): a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Hospital mortality for patients with sepsis has recently declined, but sepsis survivors still suffer from significant long-term mortality and morbidity. There are limited data that support effective strategies to address post-discharge management of patients hospitalized with sepsis. METHODS: The Improving Morbidity during Post-Acute Care Transitions for Sepsis (IMPACTS) study is a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial at three hospitals within a single healthcare delivery system comparing clinical outcomes between sepsis survivors who receive usual care versus care delivered through the Sepsis Transition and Recovery (STAR) program. The STAR program includes a centrally located nurse navigator using telephone counseling and electronic health record-based support to facilitate best-practice post-sepsis care strategies for patients during hospitalization and the 30 days after hospital discharge, including post-discharge review of medications, evaluation for new impairments or symptoms, monitoring existing comorbidities, and palliative care referral when appropriate. Adults admitted through the Emergency Department with suspected infection (i.e., antibiotics initiated, bacterial cultures drawn) and deemed, by previously developed risk-stratification models, high risk for readmission or death are included. Eligible patients are randomly allocated 1:1 to either Arm 1, usual care or Arm 2, STAR. Planned enrollment is 708 patients during a 6-month period. The primary outcome is the composite of all-cause hospital readmissions and mortality assessed 30 days post discharge. Secondary outcomes include 30- and 90-day hospital readmissions, mortality, emergency department visits, acute care-free days alive, and acute care and total costs. DISCUSSION: This pragmatic evaluation provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of a strategy to improve delivery of recommended post-sepsis care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03865602. Registered retrospectively on 6 March 2019.