Hopefully more health care systems will recognize the utility of dedicated palliative care programs for the emergency department. As an increasing number of emergency physicians are completing fellowships in Hospice and Palliative Medicine, there will be a well-suited workforce to fill this role. And if such a program does not exist in a practice location, emergency physicians should forge relationships with the inpatient palliative care consult service and consider involving them in the care of their patients. Palliative care conversations can also occur by telemedicine for smaller hospitals who may not have their own palliative care team.

Allison Tadros, MD, FACEP, is a professor in the West Virginia University Department of Emergency Medicine and the Division of Geriatrics, Palliative Medicine and Hospice in Morgantown, WV. She is dual board-certified and practices clinically in both emergency medicine and palliative medicine. Her clinical and research focus is on providing palliative care in the emergency department setting. She serves as the co-secretary for the ACEP Palliative Medicine Section.

Justin K. Brooten, MD, FACEP, is an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He is Program Director of the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship and is dual board-certified in Emergency Medicine and Hospice & Palliative Medicine. Clinically, he practices in both the emergency department and inpatient palliative care and serves as Chair of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Palliative Medicine Section.

Correction: The original byline for this article was incorrectly attributed to ACEP Now Medical Editor-in-Chief Cedric Dark, MD, MPH, FACEP, but has been updated with Dr. Tadros’ and Dr. Brooten’s bylines. ACEP Now regrets the error.

References

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