David Casarett

TL;DR: This report discusses deliberate efforts of providers to meet their obligations to improve the quality of patient care through clinical and managerial changes in the processes of care, and presents recommendations for developing policy and practices to protect patients from both the harm that QI activities might cause and the harms that quality and safety deficits do cause.

TL;DR: This study aims to determine whether inpatient palliative consultation services improve outcomes of care in dying patients with terminal illness.

TL;DR: 2 criteria are proposed to determine whether a quality improvement initiative should be reviewed and regulated as research if (1) the majority of patients involved are not expected to benefit directly from the knowledge to be gained or (2) if additional risks or burdens are imposed to make the results generalizable.

TL;DR: A simple communication intervention can increase rates of hospice referrals and families' ratings of end-of-life care and may also decrease utilization of acute care resources.

TL;DR: Although the bereaved family member perceptions of the quality of end-of-life care did not vary by length of stay for each of the FEHC domains, the perception of being referred "too late" was associated with more unmet needs, higher reported concerns, and lower satisfaction.