PC, as a field, is really moving toward outpatient and community-based care. With new community initiatives that we’re seeing from PC, the ED will have new and better options [for palliative patients]. We’re hoping to prevent [avoidable] ED visits by getting to people before they get into a crisis. That being said, what we hope to see is more intensive community-based PC, giving the ED more options to get PC patients back to their homes if that is the patient’s preference.

Section: Emergency medicine providers obtaining formal training in PC are a rapidly growing cohort. What do you see as the role of formal training in palliative medicine for emergency medicine?

CS: PC is a unique specialty with 10 different boards that feed into it. There’s a lot to be said at any institution or hospital for having someone in the ED who can be a palliative care champion. That person not only speaks the language and understands the culture of the ED but also the culture of PC. They act as a bridge. I think having someone who can be a champion, speak both languages, and understand both cultures will allow for implementation to happen in a much smoother fashion.

The AAHPM meeting was in February in Phoenix. We’re always interested in talking to people outside the classic palliative medicine/internal medicine dyad. There is an EM special interest group, too.

Dr. Tammie Quest is an emergency physician and is the incoming president for AAHPM in 2018. It’s an exciting time!

The ACEP Palliative Care Section members who contributed to this interview are:
Kate Aberger, MD, FACEP, core faculty, emergency medicine/palliative medicine, for St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey, and chair of ACEP’s Palliative Medicine Section.

Marny Fetzer, MD, palliative care medical director at Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care in Illinois.

Rebecca Goett, MD, assistant professor of emergency medicine and assistant director for advanced illness and bioethics at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

Mark Rosenberg, DO, MBA, FACEP, chairman of emergency medicine, chief of population health, and associate professor of clinical emergency medicine for St Joseph’s Healthcare System in New Jersey and a member of ACEP’s Board of Directors.