Expanding Embedded Palliative Care Reduces Unplanned Health Care Use in Lung Cancer
An ASCO 2025 abstract investigated health care utilization among patients with thoracic malignancies after expanding embedded palliative care in a thoracic oncology clinic from two to five days per week. Among 794 patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer, greater access to palliative care was associated with reductions in emergency department visits (up to 40.5%) and hospitalizations (up to 59.9%), while ICU admissions remained unchanged. These findings suggest that embedding palliative care alongside disease specialists can improve care and reduce unplanned health care utilization for this patient population.