Automatic palliative care referral triggered by diagnosis, not by decline
Palliative care given from the start of treatment for advanced cancer improves quality of life and may extend it. Instead of waiting for an oncologist to remember, the system should refer automatically when the diagnosis is recorded.
Temel and colleagues showed in 2010 that early palliative care in metastatic lung cancer improved quality of life, mood, and survival, and subsequent trials confirmed benefits across cancers. Referral remains late and inconsistent. Electronic triggers (stage IV diagnosis of defined cancers, second-line therapy start, unplanned admission) that generate a default referral unless declined would make early integration the norm.
- Pain relief and palliative care are unavailable to most · Most people who die of cancer worldwide do so without adequate pain relief.
- Fragmented care and guideline gaps · Patients fall between specialists, wait for referrals and often do not get the treatment guidelines say they should.
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