Development of guidelines for palliative care pharmacotherapy.
Despite limited evidence to support their use, hospice and palliative care programs commonly employ protocols and/or algorithms for symptom management. The use of these tools may assist in the standardization of care and help manage pharmacotherapy-related costs. The process used by one national palliative care pharmacy company to create palliative care guidelines and algorithms is described along with some of the challenges in validating such tools.
Weschules
Douglas J
DJ
excellRx, Inc., Philadelphia, PA, 19106, USA. dweschules@excellerx.com
D002985:Clinical Protocols; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005569:Formularies as Topic; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics; D006738:Hospices / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010593:Pharmaceutical Services / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic