Transitions between care settings after enrollment in a palliative care service in Italy: a retrospective analysis

This study was a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected datathat aimed to map patients' care transitions following admission to aspecialist palliative care service in Italy called Antea Centre. Patients'data was extracted from the Antea local database from 2007 to 201 I.External transitions were defined as a change in the setting of care,with the patient no longer being cared for by Antea staff. Internaltransitions were defined as a change in the setting of care, with thecare still being provided by Antea staff. A total of I 123 patients out of5313 admitted to the palliative service (21%) experienced transitions.Patients who experienced no transitions after their admission to thepalliative care service were more likely to have a KarnofskyPerformance Scale Index <30, to have been referred by a hospitalphysician, to have a shorter survival time, and to have home as theirplace of death (P<0.001).Although the patients with no transitions hadworse clinical conditions, organisations should pay attention toreducing the possible negative effects of transitions, such asdiscontinuity of care and poor coordination.