Implications of Palliative Care Consultation Timing among a Cohort of Hospice Decedents.

Earlier palliative care consultation is associated with less intensive medical care and improved quality outcomes for patients with cancer. However, there are limited data about how the timing of palliative care affects utilization among noncancer patients exposed to palliative care consultation. Comparison of health care utilization for hospice decedents who received early versus late palliative care.

Psychometric Properties of the FACIT-Pal 14 Administered in an Outpatient Palliative Care Clinic.

Background: The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Palliative (FACIT-Pal) 14 instrument measures the quality of life in palliative care patients but its psychometric properties are not well characterized.

Objectives: To establish the reliability and validity of the FACIT-Pal 14 in an outpatient palliative care clinic population.

Methods: The FACIT-Pal 14 was administered to 227 patients in an outpatient palliative care clinic at a large, urban academic medical center.

Uniform standards do not apply to readmission following coronary artery bypass surgery: a multi-institutional study.

Objectives: Reducing hospital readmissions is a national priority, with coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery slated for upcoming reimbursement decisions. Clear understanding of the elements associated with readmissions is essential for developing a coherent prevention strategy. Patterns of readmission vary considerably based on diagnosis.

Dual intervention to improve pathologic staging of resectable lung cancer.

Background: Detection of lymph node metastasis is of immense prognostic value in patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but routine pathologic nodal staging is suboptimal. To determine the impact on the rate of detection of nodal metastasis, we tested dual intervention with a prelabeled lymph node specimen collection kit to improve intraoperative node dissection and a fastidious gross dissection of the lung resection specimen for intrapulmonary lymph nodes.

Methods: We matched dual-intervention cases with controls staged using standard surgical specimen collection and pathologic examination protocols.

Use of a surgical specimen-collection kit to improve mediastinal lymph-node examination of resectable lung cancer.

Introduction: Pathologic examination of mediastinal lymph nodes (MLNs) after resection of non-small-cell lung cancer is critical in the determination of prognosis and postoperative management. Although systematic nodal dissection is recommended, the quality of pathologic lymph-node staging often falls short of recommendations in practice. We tested the feasibility of improving pathologic lymph-node staging of resectable non-small-cell lung cancer by using a prelabeled specimen-collection kit.