Capturing what matters: A retrospective observational study of advance care planning documentation at an academic medical center during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Advance care planning allows patients to share their preferences for medical care with the aim of ensuring goal-concordant care in times of serious illness. The morbidity and mortality of the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the importance and public visibility of advance care planning. However, little is known about the frequency and quality of advance care planning documentation during the pandemic.

Aim: This study examined the frequency, quality, and predictors of advance care planning documentation among hospitalized medical patients with and without COVID-19.

Design: This retrospective cohort analysis used multivariate logistic regression to identify factors associated with advance care planning documentation.

Setting/participants: This study included all adult patients tested for COVID-19 and admitted to a tertiary medical center in San Francisco, CA during March 2020.

Results: Among 262 patients, 31 (11.8%) tested positive and 231 (88.2%) tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. The rate of advance care planning documentation was 38.7% in patients with COVID-19 and 46.8% in patients without COVID-19 ( = 0.45). Documentation consistently addressed code status (100% and 94.4% for COVID-positive and COVID-negative, respectively), but less often named a surrogate decision maker, discussed prognosis, or elaborated on other wishes for care. Palliative care consultation was associated with increased advance care planning documentation (OR: 6.93,  = 0.004).

Conclusion: This study found low rates of advance care planning documentation for patients both with and without COVID-19 during an evolving global pandemic. Advance care planning documentation was associated with palliative care consultation, highlighting the importance of such consultation to ensure timely, patient-centered advance care planning.