Clinical Tools for Delivering High-Quality Care

Assesses the patient's functional abilities including ambulation, activity level, self-care ability, intake and consciousness.

Assess disease progression, impact on activities of daily living, and appropriate treatment and prognosis.

Assesses for nine symptoms experienced by patients with serious illness and quantifies their severity. Alberta Health Services.

Assessment of more than 30 symptoms; also quantifies severity.

Measures the frequency, severity, and distress associated with 32 symptoms.

Validated instrument to assess pain intensity and impact on function over time.

Tool to assess pain in cognitively impaired patients.

Assessment tool for symptom burden and impact on quality of life. National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), 2016.

Brief (4-question) screening tool for anxiety and depression.

Used to screen, diagnose and measure the severity of depression.

Measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder.

Assessment for suffering, distress, disconnection, or spiritual pain. Supportive Care Coalition.

Self-reported caregiver assessment.

Identifies unmet need in housing, food, transportation, utilities, and safety. Developed by CMS for the Accountable Health Communities model, and recommended for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.

Modular approach to measuring health-related quality of life in both healthy children and those with acute and chronic health conditions.

Tool to assess pain in cognitively impaired patients.

Screens for early dementia, which is often missed by common assessment tools such as the Mini-Mental Status Examination.

For staging and prognosis after a dementia diagnosis.

Print or email this handout of caregiver resources for education and support.

Validated instrument to assess pain intensity and impact on function over time.

Depicts the relative potencies of commonly prescribed opioids compared to oral morphine.

Opioid pocket reference for providers including safe starting doses, equianalgesic chart, and standard dosing strengths.

When to use - and when to avoid - 6 classes of analgesics including acetaminophen, NSAIDs, opioids, antiepileptics, antidepressants, and corticosteroids.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services guidance for clinicians on patient-centered reduction or discontinuation of long-term opioid therapy.

Sample protocol for managing constipation. Organizations can create similar protocols in collaboration with referring clinicians and pharmacists.

In this on-demand webinar, speakers discuss the influence of word choice on patients, families, staff, and outcomes. They also explain how common words and phrases in health care may have unintended consequences and suggest how to improve word choice.

In this on-demand webinar, Corey L. Kennard, MACM, CPXP will help attendees understand and connect with the importance of a positive patient experience.

Validated instrument to assess pain intensity and impact on function over time.

Guidelines for effective team meeting management.

Sample geriatrics and palliative team survey to assess patient satisfaction.

Sample survey to assess palliative care patient satisfaction.

Sample palliative care patient experience survey.