Clinical outcomes of a joint ICU and palliative care multidisciplinary rounding model: A retrospective cohort study

This retrospective cohort study assessed whether implementation of a joint inpatient palliative care (IPC) and ICU multidisciplinary rounding model affected clinical outcomes including ICU length of stay (LOS).

Beginning in October of 2018, an IPC physician joined the pre-existing ICU multidisciplinary rounds. Data were collected for ICU patients admitted during a 6-month period before this intervention and a 6-month period after the intervention. Data were extracted from an integrated electronic medical records (EMR) data system and compared by Wilcoxon and chi-square test for continuous and categorical variables respectively. Negative binomial regression was used to analyze the primary outcome measure, ICU LOS.

Patients in the intervention group spent fewer days in the ICU (3.7 vs. 3.9 days, p = 0.05; RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.70-0.97, p = 0.02) and in the hospital (7.5 vs. 7.8 days, p<0.01) compared to the pre-intervention group. The rate of CPR was lower in the intervention group, but the difference was not statistically significant [13(3.1%) vs. 23(5.3%), p = 0.10]. The groups did not differ significantly in rate of hospital mortality, number of days connected to mechanical ventilation via endotracheal tube, or bounceback to the ED or hospital. Multivariable analysis of the primary outcome demonstrated that patients with prior palliative care involvement had longer ICU LOS (RR 1.46, 95% CI 1.04-2.06, p = 0.03) when controlling for other variables.

The presented joint IPC-ICU multidisciplinary rounding model was associated with a statistically significant reduction in ICU and hospital LOS, but the clinical significance of this reduction is unclear.