Demystifying Hospice: A Streamlined Approach for Referring ED Patients With Serious Illness

Demystifying Hospice: A Streamlined Approach for Referring Emergency Department Patients With Serious Illness (Ethics Committee and Palliative Medicine Interest Group Sponsored)

Between 50% and 74% of people express a preference to die at home, and yet physicians often delay hospice discussions with their terminally ill patients despite guidelines recommending such discussions for patients expected to die within 1 year. Emergency physicians are often the first to identify seriously ill patients, including those with a trajectory toward death. The medical care delivered in the emergency department creates the inertia for the patient’s hospital course. Offering hospice care to our terminally ill patients is in the emergency physician’s purview and should be included in residency education. The purpose of this talk is to educate emergency physicians to recognize when their seriously ill patients meet criteria for hospice care, deconstruct what it means to offer hospice to patients and families, and facilitate discharge for patients to home or facility-based hospice.

Presenters:
Breanne M. Jacobs, MD, MA
Rita A. Manfredi, MD
Bruce R. Gutierrez, DO
Daniel W. Markwalter, MD
Naomi George, MD MPH