Drs. Harrison, Kotwal, and Smith Publish Invited Editorial in JAMA

Drs. Krista Harrison, Ashwin Kotwal, and Alexander Smith published an invited editorial, "Palliative Care for Patients With Noncancer Illnesses", in JAMA. They work through the puzzling finding in a new systematic review and meta-analysis by Quinn et al, that palliative care, a field dedicated to improving quality of life, seemed to not improve quality of life when services were provided to patients with noncancer illness. Harrison, Kotwal, and Smith point to the heterogeneity of interventions, care settings, and diseases encompassed by the review as potential explanations. Given this, it was notable that Quinn et al. nonetheless found palliative care to be associated with reduced acute care service use, mitigated symptoms, and increased advance care planning in patients with noncancer illnesses.