Lost in the Shuffle? Documentation of End-of-Life Care Decisions

The study's objective is to identify the locations of ACP documentation in EpicCare EHR and to determine which patient and primary care provider characteristics are associated with having a scanned ACP document. A scanned document is the only documentation containing signatures (unsigned documents are not legally valid).

Conclusion

Only 33.5% of patients with ACP documentation somewhere in the EHR had an scanned document. Standardizing the location of these documents should become a priority to improve care. Actions are needed to eliminate disparities.

Funder

Metta Fund, Sutter Health Institute for Research and Education

Start Date

March 01, 2011

End Date

February 28, 2012