Effects of Palliative Care Service Integration in a Metropolitan Area

This retrospective observational pre-post study aims to test the effects of introducing a remote telephonic consultation availability from the Palliative Care Service for the patients followed by the same service, their relatives, and the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and family care physicians taking care of them.The main question[s] it aims to answer are:Does the introduction of a remote telephonic consultation availability have an effect on the rate of ED access of Palliative-care followed patients?Does the introduction of a remote telephonic consultation availability have an effect on the rate of EMS requests for these patients?Does the introduction of a remote telephonic consultation availability have an effect on the rate of hospital admissions for these patients?What are the main diagnoses and therapies these patients undergo if they are admitted to a hospital?Participants will be followed up from the date of taking-over request to the Palliative Care Service to their death or the end of the period of observation.Researchers will compare two time periods to see if the introduction of a remote telephonic consultation availability has an effect on the supra mentioned aims.

Inclusion Criteria:Patients followed by the Metropolitan Palliative Care Service of BolognaResidency in Bologna Metropolitan cityExclusion Criteria:Incomplete dataResidency outside Bologna Metropolitan City