Characterizing the Documentation of Time-Limited Trials in Goals of Care Notes.

ABSTRACT:

Context

Time-limited trials (TLTs) are a collaborative plan among clinicians, patients, and surrogates to use life-sustaining therapy for a defined duration, after which the response to therapy informs the decision to either continue care focused on recovery or transition to comfort-focused care.

Objectives

To evaluate 1) how often goals of care (GOC) notes document TLT use; 2) what patient and clinician characteristics are associated with documented TLTs; and 3) how TLTs are described in GOC documentation.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of documented standardized GOC template notes for seriously ill hospitalized adult patients across 21-hospitals between 2021 and 2023. We evaluated notes using descriptive statistics paired with qualitative

SUBMITTER: Piscitello GM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12363427 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature