Automated palliative care consults: is this a good idea?

Ascension and UPenn team up to test the concept

Palliative care programs are sometimes pitched to administrators on the basis of their potential to reduce costs, by shortening length-of-stay or intensity of expensive and unhelpful therapies at the end of life. Observational data suggests palliative care consultation might reduce length of stay and costs, but the question had never been put to a serio…