Implementation of an Early Palliative Care Referral Program in Lung Cancer: A Quality Improvement Project at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India

OBJECTIVES: Access to early palliative care (EPC) for all patients with metastatic lung cancer is yet to be achieved in spite of recommendations. This quality improvement (QI) project was initialized to improve the rates of such referrals from the thoracic oncology clinic for all new outpatients in a premier cancer center in India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Change in the proportion of patients receiving referrals for EPC during and after intervention (April–May 2018), compared to baseline (January–March 2018) were explored. Interventions included understanding of the process flow, identification of key drivers, and root cause analysis which identified the gaps as lack of documentation for EPC. Teaching and encouraging staff at the clinic to incorporate referrals into all initial visits for patients with metastatic lung cancer were incorporated. RESULTS: The bundle of QI interventions increased referrals from an average of 50% to 75%, mean difference = 12.64 (standard deviation = 10.13) (95% confidence interval = 22.01–3.29), P = 0.016 (two-tailed) on paired sample test. CONCLUSION: Improved referral rates for EPC in a multidisciplinary cancer clinic is possible with a QI project. This project also identifies the importance of data documentation and patient information processes that can be targeted for improvement.