Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a profound transformation of health care delivery toward telemedicine models.
Purpose: We present the structure of a nurse-led telephonic palliative program and operational metrics to influence further development of tele-palliative programs.
Methods: The nurses engage with seriously ill patients for 6 months with the goal of discussing advance care planning (ACP) and addressing self-identified issues related to their illness.
Findings: Of the first 100 program graduates, 78% were actively engaged and 51% named a health care agent and/or engaged in ACP. Of the 18 patients who died during the study, 13 (72%) were enrolled in hospice services.
Discussion: Our preliminary results indicate that seriously ill patients are willing to engage with nurses and to participate with discussions on ACP.
Conclusion: Given the gaps in health care exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, this innovative program serves as an important model for bringing palliative care directly to patients.
Keywords: End of life care; Hospice care; Palliative care; Program development; Telehealth.
Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.