Palliative Care Committee

Who We Are

Mission: To develop palliative care competence relevant to emergency physicians across all levels of experience.

Objectives:

1. Educate emergency physicians on how to identify, manage, and refer palliative care eligible patients in the emergency department.
2. Build peer network for collaboration, mentorship, and research to advance palliative care in the emergency department.
3. Create professional development and leadership opportunities at both national and regional levels to build capacity in palliative care core competencies across all emergency department practice settings.
4. Share knowledge and best practices around alternative ED palliative care delivery systems and as well as personal career trajectories.
5. Advise AAEM advisory board on upcoming key palliative care challenges and opportunities within emergency medicine.

 

 

Leadership

Chair: Jessica Fleischer-Black, MD FAAEM

Vice Chair: Margaret Putman, DO FAAEM

Board Liaison: Robert P. Lam, MD FAAEM

Staff Liaison: Thomas G. Derenne

 

Our Projects

Palliative Care & Ethics COVID-19 Story Submissions

Caring for coronavirus patients has brought unforeseen challenges into our practice of emergency medicine. From explaining visitor restriction policies to having daily goals of care conversations over the phone, COVID-19 has changed our practice and challenged our sense of what it means to do the “right thing” for our patients. AAEM wants to hear about your successes and struggles while caring for your patients during the pandemic. We are hoping to compile and share voices from all different practice environments in hopes of processing and learning from our experiences together as physicians.

Learn more and submit your story.

 

Recommendation Statement

Recommendations for the Navigation of Moral Dilemmas during the COVID Pandemic
The AAEM Ethics Committee, Geriatric Committee, and Palliative Care Committee collaborated to write recommendations for the navigation of moral dilemmas during the COVID pandemic. Read the statement here.

 

COVID-19 Palliative Care Conversation Resources

• Vital Talk - Trains clinicians in effective communication methods
  • COVID-specific
• Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) - Provides tools, training and technical assistance for all clinicians caring for people with serious illness
  • COVID-specific
• The National Hospice and Palliative Care Association - Shared Decision-Making Tool (COVID-specific)
• California Health Care Foundation
• Honoring Choices. Pacific Northwest - With links to archived webinars. COVID-specific

 

Other Resources

• NJEM: Who Decides When a Patient Can’t? Statutes on Alternate Decision Makers
• Palliative Care in EM - Numerous topics, articles and guidelines
• Palliative Tool for EM Docs

 

Meeting Handouts

• 10-Minute Goals of Care Procedure - AAEM19
• ED Comfort Care Transitions - AAEM18

 

Common Sense Articles

• Oxygen is for the Weak (PDF) - Robyn Hitchcock, MD FAAEM (July/August 2022)
• My Journey from ER to Palliative Care (PDF) - Alexa Gale, MD FAAEM (May/June 2022)
• A View from the Middle of My Mid-Career Fellowship (PDF) - Jessica Fleischer-Black, MD FAAEM (May/June 2021)
• Hospital Associated Disability: Is Hospital Admission Really the Safest Disposition for Our Elderly Patients? (PDF) - Diana Huynh, MD and Austin J. Causey, MD (May/June 2021)
• Agnes S. (1918-2020): Great Grandma (PDF) - Mary Jane Brown, MD FAAEM (March/April 2021)
• Create a LIFEMAP for Goals of Care Discussions during a Pandemic (PDF) - Austin J. Causey, MD (November/December 2020)
• COVID-19 Pandemic Draws Palliative Care into the ED (PDF) - Jessica Fleischer-Black, MD FAAEM (July/August 2020)
• Health Care Proxies, Living Wills, and POLST Forms, Oh My: Interpreting Advance Care Planning Documents (PDF) - Kelsie Phelan, MD; Erika Blaikie, MD; and Jessica Fleischer-Black, MD FAAEM (March/April 2020)
• Palliative Care in the ED: How Do We Bill Appropriately? (PDF) - Ray isenburg, DO and Deniece Boothe, DO (May/June 2019)
• Identification of the Hospice vs. Palliative Care Patient in the ED (PDF) - Deniece Boothe, DO (March/April 2019)
• Coping with Death in the Emergency Department (PDF) - Deniece Boothe, DO (September/October 2018)

 

Journal of Emergency Medicine Articles

• Palliative Care Symptom Management in The Emergency Department: The ABC's of Symptom Management for The Emergency Physician (January 2018) - Mari Siegel, MD FAAEM FACEP and Suzanne Bigelow, MD

• A Systematic Approach to Comfort Care Transitions in the Emergency Department - David Wang, MD and Christina Creel-Bulos, RN-BSN, MD