Clinician Perspectives on Virtual Specialty Palliative Care for Patients With Advanced Illnesses.
J Palliat Med
; 27(5): 630-637, 2024 May.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38197852
ABSTRACT
Background:
Patients with serious illnesses have unmet symptom and psychosocial needs. Specialty palliative care could address many of these needs; however, access varies by geography and health system. Virtual visits and automated referrals could increase access and lead to improved quality of life, health outcomes, and patient-centered care for patients with serious illness.Objectives:
We sought to understand referring clinician perspectives on barriers and facilitators to utilizing virtual tools to increase upstream access to palliative care.Design:
Participants in this multisite qualitative study included practicing clinicians who commonly place palliative care referrals across multiple specialties, including hematology/oncology, family medicine, cardiology, and geriatrics. All interviews were transcribed and subsequently coded and analyzed by trained research coordinators using Atlas.ti software. Settings/Subjects:
This study included 23 clinicians (21 physicians, 2 nonphysicians) across 5 specialties, 4 practice settings, and 7 states in the United States.Results:
Respondents felt that community-based specialty palliative services including symptom management, advance care planning, physical therapy, and mental health counseling would benefit their patients. However, they had mixed feelings about automated referrals, with some clinicians feeling hesitant about not being alerted to such referrals. Many respondents were supportive of virtual palliative care, particularly for those who may have difficulty accessing physician offices, but most respondents felt that such care should only be provided after an initial in-person consultation where clinicians can meet face-to-face with patients.Conclusion:
Clinicians believe that automated referrals and virtual palliative care could increase access to the benefits of specialty palliative care. However, virtual palliative care models should give attention to iterative communication with primary clinicians and the perceived need for an initial in-person visit.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Palliative Care
/
Qualitative Research
Type of study:
Qualitative_research
Aspects:
Patient_preference
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
J Palliat Med
Journal subject:
SERVICOS DE SAUDE
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States
Country of publication:
United States