title: Palliative care consultation trajectories.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Palliative care consultations teams (PCCTs) promote comprehensive health but only if the PCCT can influence actual care. The purpose of this study is to document the types of recommendations made by a PCCT, determine the rates at which recommendations are implemented, and identify the factors related to implementation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean number of recommendations per patient was 1.44 (standard deviation = 1.81), and 57% of the recommendations were implemented. Discharge and goals of care recommendations were significantly more likely to be implemented than recommendations for pain, symptom management, and consultation of other services.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although PCCTs may have suggestions about how to guide care, many of those recommendations are not implemented. Future research is needed to understand how to maximize the impact of PCCTs.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychology, Washington University, St Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Elissa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kozlov
authors.forename: Brian D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thorsten
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heiland
authors.forename: Anupam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agarwal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010347:Patient Care Planning / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: consultation; health services; interdisciplinary communication; interdisciplinary teams; palliative care; service utilization