Surgical Versus Medical Team Assignment and Secondary Palliative Care Services for Patients Dying in a Cardiac Hospital

Background:Secondary palliative care (SPC) provides several benefits for patients with cardiovascular disease, but historically, it has been underutilized in this population. Prior research suggests a low rate of SPC consultation by surgical teams in general, but little is known about how surgical teams utilize SPC in the setting of severe cardiovascular disease.Aim:To determine if surgical team assignment affects the probability of SPC for inpatients dying of cardiovascular disease.Design:Retrospective, cohort study.Methods:We identified all inpatients at a large cardiac hospital who had anticipated death under the care of a cardiology, cardiac surgery, or vascular surgery team in 2016. Our primary outcome was referral to SPC, including palliative medicine consultation or inpatient hospice care. Informed by univariate analysis, we created a multivariable logistic regression model, the significance of which was assessed with the Wald test.Results:Two hundred thirty-seven patients were included in our anal...