• Samantha L Gelfand, Joshua R Lakin, Kate R Sciacca, Emily R Rivkin, Jessica C Eves, Shelly Anderson, Ernest I Mandel, Akshay S Desai, Nelia Jain, Michael J Landzberg, Natasha M Lever, Kristen G Schaefer, Richard E Leiter, and James A Tulsky.
• Division of Palliative Medicine (S.L.G, J.R.L, K.R.S., N.J., M.J.L., N.M.L., K.G.S., R.E.L., J.A.T.), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care (S.L.G, J.R.L, K.R.S., N.J., M.J.L., N.M.L., R.E.L., J.A.T.), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Division of Renal Medicine (S.L.G, E.I.M.), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Harvard Medical School (S.L.G, J.R.L, E.I.M., A.S.D., N.J., M.J.L., K.G.S., R.E.L., J.A.T.), Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Electronic address: Sgelfand@bwh.harvard.edu.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2022 Dec 1; 64 (6): e341e346e341-e346.

BackgroundExpanding specialty palliative care within complex health systems involves consideration of patients' unmet needs, clinicians' perceptions of palliative care, and the availability of palliative care resources. Prior to this quality improvement (QI) project, palliative care services in our health system primarily served oncology patients.InterventionWe undertook a prospective strategic planning process that included executive sponsorship and engagement of institutional leaders and clinicians to help define which palliative care services were most needed by the health system.MeasuresWe interviewed and surveyed a broad range of clinicians including physicians, nurse practitioners, and social workers.OutcomesThe two most prominent themes that emerged from the stakeholder engagement process were clinicians' wish for specialty-aligned interprofessional palliative care teams and for expansion of nononcology palliative care access.ConclusionCareful needs assessment and stakeholder engagement can result in goal-directed and data-driven expansion of palliative care services within tertiary health care systems.Copyright © 2022 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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