Post-ICU Palliative Care Intervention (PIPCI) Trial

The palliative care consultation team will be led by one of the board-certified palliative care physicians at Columbia University Medical Center. Over one or more visits, the palliative care consultation team will first review intervention participants' medical records and baseline Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) scores. They will also directly assess participants' physical and psychological symptoms. They will provide supportive counseling, make treatment recommendations for burdensome symptoms to the primary team of physicians, and will address goals of care. They will document these activities in structured electronic medical record consultation notes.

Patient-surrogate pairs randomized to usual care will not have a palliative care consultation intervention offered, and will receive care by their primary physicians. However, if a palliative care consultation is requested after randomization to usual care by the primary team of physicians and/or the patient/surrogate, it will be provided.