Pilot Study of a Palliative Care and Medical Oncology Co-Rounding Model for Advanced Cancer Inpatients in a Tertiary Hospital in Singapore.

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to obtain initial estimates of the effect of a palliative care and medical oncology co-rounding model on hospital length of stay, proportion of patients reviewed by specialist palliative care (SPC), and proportion of patients who were readmitted within 7 and 30 days of hospital discharge.

BACKGROUND: Earlier timing of palliative care improves patient outcomes, but current consultative models of palliative care service delivery are not feasible for widespread implementation.

METHODS: We conducted a pilot pre-post intervention study of a palliative care and medical oncology co-rounding model of care in the inpatient hospital setting. All patients admitted under the care of an inpatient oncology team during the study period were included. Hospital length of stay, proportion of patients reviewed by SPC, and readmission data were retrieved from the electronic administrative database.

RESULTS: There were 595 unique patients (352 in the "consultative" group and 243 in the "co-rounding" group). There was no significant difference in the proportion of patients who were reviewed by a SPC physician (consultative model 21.02% vs. co-rounding model 25.10%, p = 0.243). The hospital length of stay was shorter for the co-rounding group (median 3 days, interquartile range 2-7 days) compared with the consultative group (median 4 days, interquartile range 2-7 days) (p = 0.025). There was no significant difference in proportion of patients readmitted within 30 days of hospital discharge (consultative model 29.78% vs. co-rounding model 28.90%, p = 0.773).

DISCUSSION: In our target population, the co-rounding model was associated with a shorter hospital length of stay.