Hospital-based palliative medicine consultation: a randomized controlled trial.

摘要

Hospital-based palliative care consultation services increase patient and family satisfaction, improve quality of life, reduce intensive care unit length of stay, and decrease costs. Clear evidence of the effectiveness of palliative care consultation services in improving symptoms has been more elusive. We conducted a randomized trial to evaluate the impact of a proactive palliative medicine consultation (PMC) on the care of chronically ill, hospitalized elderly patients.