Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38334010›Full record

ArticleThe American journal of hospice & palliative care2025

A Mixed Methods Analysis of Standardized Documentation of Serious Illness Conversations Within an Electronic Health Record Module During Hospitalization.

Myrna Katalina Serna, Catherine Yoon, Julie Fiskio, Joshua R Lakin, Jeffrey L Schnipper, Anuj K Dalal

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The American journal of hospice & palliative care, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Myrna Katalina SernaDivision of General Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6493-5575
Catherine YoonHospital Medicine Unit, Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Julie FiskioHospital Medicine Unit, Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Joshua R LakinHarvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Jeffrey L SchnipperHospital Medicine Unit, Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Anuj K DalalHospital Medicine Unit, Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAnalysis of documented Serious Illness Conversations (SICs) in the inpatient setting can help clinicians align management to address patient and caregiver needs.

methodsWe conducted a mixed methods analysis of the first instance of standardized documentation of a SIC within a structured module among hospitalized general medicine patients from 2018 to 2019. Percentage of documentations that included a description of patient or family understanding of the patient's medical condition and use of radio buttons to answer the "prognostic information shared," "hopes," and "worries" modules are reported. Using grounded theory approach, physicians analyzed free text entries to: "What is important to the patient/family?" and "Recommendations or next steps planned."

resultsOut of 5142 patients, 59 patients had a documented SIC. Patient or family understanding of the medical condition(s) was reported in 56 (95%). For "prognostic information shared," the most frequently selected radio buttons were: 49 (83%) incurable disease and 28 (48%) prognosis of weeks to months while those for "hopes" were: 52 (88%) be comfortable and 27 (46%) be at home and for "worries" were: 49 (83%) other physical suffering and 36 (61%) pain. Themes generated from entries to "What's important to patient/family?" included being with loved ones; comfort; mentally and physically present; and reliable care while those for "Recommendations" were coordinating support services; symptom management; and support and communication.

conclusionsSIC content indicated concern about pain and reliable care suggesting the complex, intensive nature of caring for seriously ill patients and the need to consider SICs earlier in the life course of patients.

Indexed as

CommunicationElectronic Health RecordsHospitalizationAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCritical IllnessDocumentationFemaleGrounded TheoryHumansMaleMiddle AgedPhysician-Patient Relationscaregivingend-of-life carehospiceinpatientpalliative careserious illness conversation

Identifiers

PMID38334010
PMCPMC11566069

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.