Emergency Department Initiated Palliative Care Consultation in a Rural Setting.

Cohort studyThe American journal of hospice & palliative care· Jul 2026

Emergency Department Initiated Palliative Care Consultation in a Rural Setting.

Allison M Tadros, Harsha Sai Sreemantula, Alexander H Tadros … R Osvaldo Navia

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Emergency Department FlowCohort studyClinical practice

Emergency department palliative care consults linked to more advance care planning documentation

Emergency Department Initiated Palliative Care Consultation in a Rural Setting.

Allison M Tadros … R Osvaldo Navia

The American journal of hospice & palliative care · Jul 2026

Purpose

This study compares palliative care consults in the emergency department with a part time emergency department embedded palliative care physician to consults after admission in a center with a largely rural catchment area.

Methods

The medical records of 150 patients who had emergency department palliative care consultation were compared to 150 randomly selected patients with inpatient palliative care consultation over the same timeframe.

n = 150 patients

Results

more patients had their future care wishes documented after emergency department palliative care visits

ED consultation

94.7%

Inpatient consultation

87.3%

More results

Overall, 28 (18.7%) patients who had palliative care consults in the emergency department were discharged, and those who were admitted were significantly ( P < .05) less likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit and had shorter intensive care unit and hospital LOS.

Both groups had high rates of code status changes.

“

Conclusion

Patients seen by a palliative care consultant in the emergency department in a rural healthcare setting had shorter hospital stays, were less likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit, and fewer days in the intensive care unit.

Emergency Department Initiated Palliative Care Consultation in a Rural Setting.

Emergency Department Initiated Palliative Care Consultation in a Rural Setting.

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