Serious illness conversations in the Emergency Department for older adults with advanced illnesses - A randomized clinical trial

Serious illness conversations in the Emergency Department for older adults with advanced illnesses - A randomized clinical trial
JAMA Network; by Kei Ouchi, Susan D. Block, Dorene M. Rentz, Donna L. Berry, Hannah Oelschlager, Youkie Shiozawa, Sarah Rossmassler, Amanda L. Berger, Mohammad A. Hasdianda, Wei Wang, Edward Boyer, Rebecca L. Sudore, James A. Tulsky, Mara A. Schonberg; 6/25
Does an emergency department (ED)–based intervention to discuss serious illness care goals improve advance care planning outcomes for older adults with advanced illnesses? In this randomized clinical trial including 141 patients in the ED, a nurse-led intervention to discuss serious illness care goals did not significantly improve patient-reported engagement in advance care planning but did increase subsequent clinician-documented serious illness conversations in the medical records. These findings suggest that ED visits may serve as a critical access point for serious illness conversations in clinically stable older adults with advanced illnesses.