Physician home visits by palliative medicine fellow.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Physician home visits (HVs) are an important model of care for the terminally ill. Hospice and palliative medicine (HPM) fellows make a minimum of 25 HVs. OBJECTIVE: To describe HPM fellow hospice HVs in an academic palliative medicine practice. METHODS: Retrospective chart review of HVs conducted by 1 HPM fellow. RESULTS: Twenty-five HVs were made to 21 hospice patients. Nineteen had advanced cancer. Indications for visits were symptom management (22) and education (21). On average 2.8 symptoms (± SD 1) were addressed on each visit, usually pain. Medications were reviewed at every visit. CONCLUSIONS: HVs are an important part for patient care and fellow education, which provided an opportunity for medication revision and symptom education.