Triggering and Increasing Palliative Care Consults in the Emergency Department
By: Dr. Caroline Tigere
Dr. Caroline Tigere’s book discusses increasing palliative care consultation in the Emergency Room by educating healthcare providers to identifying patients who are eligible for early palliative care encounters. Dr. Tigere, a palliative care Nurse Practitioner, has worked tirelessly to increase palliative care consults from the Emergency Room before this project. The number of consultations originating from the Emergency Room increased after an evidenced-based tool was used to assist the Emergency Room providers in identifying appropriate patients.
Several palliative care providers have tried to move palliative care upstream to the Emergency Room without success because there is still belief that every patient who comes to the Emergency Room should receive aggressive care.