National outreach of telepalliative medicine volunteers for a New York City safety net system COVID-19 pandemic response

Israilov, Sigal; Krouss, Mona; Zaurova, Milana; Jalon, Hillary S.; Conley, Georgia; Shulman, Pavel; Ivanyuk, Marina; Jalkut, Elizabeth; Saladini-Aponte, Carla; Sharma-Cooper, Haseen; Smeltz, Robert; Faillace, Robert T.; Wei, Eric K.; Cho, Hyung J.

The COVID-19 surge in New York City created an increased demand for palliative care (PC) services. In staff-limited settings such as safety net systems, and amid growing reports of healthcare worker illness, leveraging help from less-affected areas around the country may provide an untapped source of support. A national social media outreach effort recruited 413 telepalliative medicine volunteers (TPMV). After expedited credentialing and onboarding of 67 TPMV, a 2-week pilot was initiated in partnership with five public health hospitals without any previous existing telehealth structure. The volunteers completed 109 PC consults in the pilot period. Survey feedback from TPMV and on-site PC providers was largely positive, with areas of improvement identified around electronic health record navigation and continuity of care. This was a successful, proof of concept, quality improvement initiative leveraging TPMV from across the nation for a PC pandemic response in a safety net system.