Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 25, 2025
Development and Implementation of a Multi-Disciplinary Technology Enhanced Care Pathway for Youth and Adults with Concussion
Published on: January 20, 2019
Development, Implementation, and Outcomes of a Serious Illness Care Community of Practice
Grant M Smith1, Nicholas J Radigan2, Francine L Maloney3
1Section of Palliative Medicine, Division of Primary Care and Population Health, Department of Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA.
Context:
Communities of Practice (CoP) can help geographically separated individuals who share a joint enterprise, mutual engagement, and a repertoire of tools to gain, maintain, and implement new skills, including serious illness communication.
Objectives:
To investigate the health system uptake, implementation and outcomes of the Serious Illness Community of Practice (SICoP).
Methods:
Participants included members of the online SICoP, including participants from all 50 states in the United States and 44 countries, interested in implementation of the Serious Illness Care Program. Yearly surveys asked members about their program's composition, completed trainings, number of serious illness conversations, and utilization of the online SICoP tools and resources.
Results:
Over four years, membership in the SICoP increased from 429 to 1,912, with an estimated 17,785 clinicians trained and 38,945 serious illness conversations conducted. Members have continued to utilize and modify the SICoP resources.
Conclusions:
Utilizing a CoP has contributed to improving the health care system implementation and process outcomes of serious illness communication training.
Key Message:
This article describes the implementation and health system outcomes of a Community of Practice developed to support serious illness communication. The results indicate that the membership of the community grew and that the community supported growth in the number of trained clinicians and the number of serious illness conversations conducted.
Related Concept Videos
01:29Documentation in Long-Term and Home Healthcare Setting
Long-Term Care Facilities
01:15Methods of Documentation VI: Case Management Model
For example, a patient with a chronic...
01:28Chronic Kidney Disease III: Interprofessional Care
01:25Continuing Care
01:21Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-I
Physicians
The physician's primary responsibility is to diagnose illness and direct the medical or surgical treatment of the condition. The authority to admit patients to a healthcare agency or institution and practice care within that setting is granted to physicians by the healthcare agency or institution...
01:18Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-II
Physical Therapist
A physical therapist (PT) aims to restore function or prevent additional impairment in a patient following an injury or disease. Massage, heat, cold, water, sonar waves, exercises, and electrical stimulation are some treatments used by PTs to treat...