Co-Utilization of Clinical Ethics and Palliative Care Consultations in Hospitalized Patients
In a study published in the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, researchers examined how clinical ethics and palliative care consultations are used together in hospitals, noting that despite their frequent co-utilization, little is known about how these services are engaged concurrently. Among hospitalized adults, nearly half of patients who received an ethics consultation also received a palliative care consultation, most often among those with the highest clinical complexity and mortality risk, with considerable variability in timing and sequencing observed. As part of a broader quality improvement initiative, the authors call for structured collaboration frameworks between the two services to improve utilization of these limited resources and better align care with patient goals.