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N/A N=562 Randomized Single-blind Health Services Research

Predictive Analytics and Behavioral Nudges to Improve Palliative Care in Advanced Cancer

Cancer

Enrolled (actual)
562
Serious AEs
0.0%
Results posted
Feb 2025
Primary outcome: Primary: Number of Study Participants Who Have Completed a Palliative Care Visit Within 3 Months of Enrollment — 22; 130 participants

Study Design & Population

Study type
Interventional
Phase
N/A
Interventions
EHR Nudge (Other)
Age
Adult, Older Adult · 18+ yrs
Sex
All
Sponsor
Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine
Primary completion
Jun 2023

Outcome Measures

OutcomeResultp-value
PRIMARY
Number of Study Participants Who Have Completed a Palliative Care Visit Within 3 Months of Enrollment
22; 130

Summary

Patients with advanced cancer suffer from high symptom burden and aggressive end-of-life care. Early specialty palliative care is an evidence-based practice that improves symptom burden, quality of life, and survival in advanced cancer. However, over half of patients with advanced cancer die before receiving palliative care. Clinician-level biases and suboptimal identification of high-risk patients are major barriers to palliative care uptake. In this 2-arm pragmatic clinical trial, the investigators will randomize practices within a large community oncology network to receive an intervention consisting of algorithm-based default palliative care referrals. The investigators will study the impact of such an intervention on palliative care utilization and end-of-life outcomes.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

Patients:

  • Stage III and IV lung, and non-Colorectal GI cancers, defined using internal algorithms based on International Classification of Diseases (ICD) diagnosis codes, EHR entries, and manual screening

Exclusion Criteria

Patients:

  • Benign hematology, genetics, survivorship encounters; no prior EHR data;
  • Deceased or enrolled in hospice care
  • Had a palliative care visit or had no medical oncology visit within the prior 90 days or are seen for a non-medical oncology encounter
View full record on ClinicalTrials.gov →

Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05590962). Outcome figures and adverse-event rates are extracted automatically from the registry's posted results and are provided for clinician reference, not as a substitute for the primary publication.

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