Residents

Palliative Care Ambulatory Program

The Palliative Care Ambulatory Program (PCAP) is available on a consultation basis to ambulatory patients with serious, complex, or life-threatening illness. The PCAP is staffed by physicians and nurses with specialized skills in palliative care and is located at Internal Medicine Associates, at 1470 Madison Avenue in New York City. The service delivery model is predominately consultative with ability to provide co-management with select patients for whom the primary focus of care is palliative.

Eligibility

All ambulatory adult patients with serious, complex, or life-threatening illness are eligible to receive palliative care.

Referral

A patient may be referred to the Palliative Care Ambulatory Program by his/her primary care provider.

Reasons to Request a Consultation

• Pain and symptom management related to the patient’s serious, complex, or life-threatening illness. Appropriate referrals for palliative management would include, but are not limited to: chronic shortness of breath in patients with chronic heart or lung disease; chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, or constipation related to serious, complex, or life-threatening illness. Patients with chronic pain syndromes without an underlying diagnosis of a serious, complex, or life-threatening illness who require referral to a pain management specialist should be referred to the Pain Management Service within the Department of Anesthesiology. Other such patients may best be served by referral to Orthopaedics, Physical Medicine, Neurology, and Rheumatology, among others.
• Counseling/guidance about care options in the face of serious illness (e.g. discussions of goals of care, advance directives, or prognosis).
• Assistance in developing a palliative care plan. This may include improving support for the patient and family in their current residential setting (e.g. home palliative care or hospice) or options for providing care in a supportive environment (e.g. nursing home with palliative care or hospice).
• Loss, anticipatory grief, and bereavement support for patients and their families.

Where appropriate, patients referred to the Palliative Care Ambulatory Program may be admitted directly to the inpatient Palliative Care Unit in the event that hospitalization is required. Prior referral to PCAP would help ensure appropriate continuity of care in the event of hospital admission.

Additional Information

Tel: (212) 241-1446