Dr. Kojiro Morita, PhD, MPH, RN, PHN Project Lecturer in Global Nursing Research Center
It has been reported that palliative care provided to patients with heart failure is likely inadequate. It has not been confirmed whether introducing health policies promoting palliative care would change end-of-life care for heart failure.
The present study used a Japanese nationwide administrative claims database to examine practice patterns during end-of-life care for HF. Using an interrupted time-series analysis, we also examined the impact of a financial incentive scheme for team-based palliative care provided during the end-of-life period due to HF in acute care hospitals.
This study revealed that opioid and antidepressant usage in near-death patients with heart failure gradually increased over the years. However, the newly issued financial incentive scheme for team-based palliative care was rarely adopted and was not associated with upward slope changes for symptom management.
We concluded that further multifaceted strategies to promote palliative care provided to patients with HF would be essential, especially due to the increased interest in palliative and end-of-life care for heart failure.
Access the full paper here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016752732300952X?via%3Dihub