Goals-of-care discussions.

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Palliative Care
• Medical Informatics

Background:

• Effective goals-of-care conversations are crucial for patient prognostic awareness and end-of-life planning.
• These conversations are often infrequent or ineffective, hindering advance care planning.
• A phase 3 trial provided an opportunity to develop a novel tool for these discussions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement an electronic medical record-based goals-of-care template.
• To improve the effectiveness of goals-of-care conversations in clinical practice and research.
• To ensure comprehensive advance care planning and provider alignment.

Main Methods:

• Developed an EMR-based goals-of-care template integrated as a SmartPhrase.
• Utilized the template to facilitate discussions with patients and families.
• Ensured documentation of key elements like hospice transition and legacy work.

Main Results:

• The template aids in clarifying patient understanding of treatment plans.
• It facilitates comprehensive coverage of essential end-of-life care planning tasks.
• The tool supports both clinical care documentation and billing for advance care planning.

Conclusions:

• The EMR-based goals-of-care template is effective in daily practice and research.
• It improves communication and ensures all providers are aligned on patient treatment plans.
• This tool supports better advance care planning and patient-centered end-of-life care.