Case Study
Supporting Palliative Care Referrals at Yale-New Haven Hospital with Help of Rothman Index
Highlights Summary
- A YNHH study found that the Rothman Index is a powerful tool for supporting palliative care consults.
- Patients referred for palliative care consults at YNHH had shorter lengths of stay and were less likely to be readmitted than controls, illustrating that palliative care reduces costs of care in addition to improving quality of life.
- The Rothman Index improves communication between nurses and physicians about end-of-life care. “For decades, nurses have been going to physicians and saying, ‘My gut tells me this patient isn’t going to do well,’” says YNHH’s Rebecca Gange-Henderson, APRN, ACHPN. “But now we have it quantified.”
A phrase we use a lot at Yale New Haven is ‘the right patient in the right bed at the right time. This pilot accomplished this. We really made a difference in outcomes for these patients.
Rebecca Gagne-Henderson, APRN, ACHPN, PhDc
Palliative Program Manager, Yale-New Haven Hospital
I immediately fell in love with the Rothman Index. It’s a quantification of the nurse’s gut feeling.
Rebecca Gagne-Henderson, APRN, ACHPN, PhDc
Palliative Program Manager, Yale-New Haven Hospital