Implementation of a Novel Pathway to Integrate Palliative and Oncology Care for Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in a Community Hospital

PURPOSEHistorically, patients with hematologic malignancies are referred to palliative care less often and later in the disease trajectory than those with solid tumors. Recent evidence demonstrates the benefit of early, integrated inpatient palliative care (PC) for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) receiving chemotherapy at academic centers. The current study evaluated the feasibility of implementing standardized early palliative care services (PCS) during hospitalization for AML treatment in a community setting.METHODSStarting June 2018, automated consultations for PCS were incorporated into clinical pathways to encourage early, integrated services for patients receiving chemotherapy for AML with an expected hospital stay of 4-6 weeks. Expectations were established that consultations would be performed within 72 hours of request; patients would have two visits per week by a palliative care clinician and at least one visit by a member of the interdisciplinary team. To measure the feasibility of this intervention, data on number of patients who received palliative care consultation and time to palliative care consultation were compared with institutional historical controls.RESULTSOn the basis of retrospective chart review, the postintervention group (n = 21) had greater PCS compared with historical controls (n = 28; 95% v 36%). The average number of PC team member visits per patient was significantly greater after the intervention: PC clinicians (1.04-8.05, P <.001), chaplains (1.3-3.3, P =.0085), and social workers (1.0-4.3, P <.001). Of those patients who received PCS, 74% had their initial palliative medicine consultation within 3 days of a clinician's order and 100% within 4 days.CONCLUSIONWe have demonstrated the feasibility of implementing standardized integration of PCS for patients with AML hospitalized for treatment in a community setting.