Center to Advance Palliative Care

In our institution anyone can make a referral to palliative care by phone contact, voice mail, page or in person. The referral is anonymous, the team reviews the chart for validation of reason for referral or getting back to referree (if known), calls the attending physician to ask for permission to consult. Sometimes the answer is a yes, sometimes it is not yet and sometimes it is no way. But even if it is no, just raising the question may make a change in how the attending will communicate with his patient. It also gives the team the opportunity to help staff behind the scenes with the issue.