• Akhila Reddy, Joannis Baez González, Ali Rizvi, Nico Nortje, Shalini Dalal, Ali Haider, Jaya Sheela Amaram-Davila, Patricia Bramati, Minxing Chen, David Hui, and Eduardo Bruera.
• Departments of Palliative, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, (A.R., J.B.G., A.R., S.D., A.H., J.S.A.D., P.B., D.H., E.B.), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA. Electronic address: asreddy@mdanderson.org.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2023 Dec 1; 66 (6): e666e671e666-e671.

ContextPalliative care has received increased interest since the COVID-19 pandemic due to its role in guiding goals of care (GOC) discussions.ObjectivesWe assessed the change in the timing of outpatient palliative care referrals before and after implementing an institution-wide multicomponent interdisciplinary GOC (myGOC) program.MethodsWe reviewed 200 random supportive care center (SCC) consult visits each from June to November 2019 (before myGOC) and June to November 2020 (after myGOC). Data regarding Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) scores, time from hospital registration to SCC visit, SCC visit until death/last follow-up, and advance care planning (ACP) notes were collected. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to evaluate overall survival (OS).ResultsThe median OS from the SCC consult visit was 15.2 months (95% CI:11.7-19.7) before and 14.0 months (95% CI:10.8-17.9) after the myGOC program (P = 0.646). There were no significant differences in the median time between the SCC consult visit to death/last follow-up (11.95 vs. 12.0 months after myGOC; P = 0.841) and the first visits to our cancer center and SCC (6.1 vs. 5.29 months after myGOC; P = 0.689). Patients seen after myGOC had significantly lower ESAS symptom scores, better performance status (2 [1-2] vs. 2 [1-3]; P = 0.018], and more ACP notes composed by medical oncology teams (25.5% vs. 4.5%; P < 0.001).ConclusionThere were no significant differences in OS among patients seen in the SCC before and after myGOC, likely related to a ceiling effect. More oncologists had ACP discussions with patients, and patients had lower symptom scores on ESAS after myGOC, likely indicating that more patients were referred for GOC discussions and ACP rather than for symptom distress.Copyright © 2023 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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