Emergency Department-Initiated Palliative Care Consultations for Patients with Cancer: Utilization Patterns…

Cohort studyThe Journal of emergency medicine· Jun 2026

Emergency Department-Initiated Palliative Care Consultations for Patients with Cancer: Utilization Patterns, Clinical Characteristics, and Longitudinal Trends.

Satheesh Gunaga, Alyssa Buchheister, Harish Neelam … Fabrice I Mowbray

OncologyCohort studyClinical practiceQ2IF 1.3

Emergency departments-initiated palliative care consults for cancer patients rose 388% from 2016 to 2023

Emergency Department-Initiated Palliative Care Consultations for Patients with Cancer: Utilization Patterns, Clinical Characteristics, and Longitudinal Trends.

Satheesh Gunaga … Fabrice I Mowbray

The Journal of emergency medicine · Jun 2026

Background

Early integration of palliative care is recommended for patients with cancer, yet little is known about how these recommendations translate into routine clinical practice in emergency departments (emergency departments).

Purpose

To evaluate trends in emergency departments-initiated hospice and palliative care (hospice and palliative care) consultations among patients with cancer and characterize utilization patterns and clinical profiles.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study using electronic medical record data from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2023, across five hospitals within a large integrated health system in the United States.

n = 2639 unique patients

Results

Emergency department palliative care referrals for cancer nearly quadrupled over eight years.

2016

6.7%

2023

12.9%

More results

The cohort included 2639 unique patients across 2894 cancer-related emergency departments encounters, with a total of 3407 hospice and palliative care consultations.

Mean (standard deviations) age was 72.7 (13.8) years.

Hospital admission occurred in 92.4% of encounters, with 53.3% resulting in in-hospital death.

More results

The proportion of hospital-wide cancer-related consultations originating in the emergency departments increased from 6.7% in 2016 to 12.9% in 2023.

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Conclusion

Emergency departments-initiated hospice and palliative care consultations for patients with cancer increased substantially over 8 years, suggesting growing integration of specialty palliative care services within emergency care for oncology patients.

Emergency Department-Initiated Palliative Care Consultations for Patients with Cancer: Utilization Patterns, Clinical Characteristics, and Longitudinal Trends.

Emergency Department-Initiated Palliative Care Consultations for Patients with Cancer: Utilization Patterns, Clinical Characteristics, and Longitudinal Trends.

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