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Background: The benefits of hospice for patients with advanced cancer are well established. Short hospice length of service (LOS) is a marker of poor quality care and patient and family dissatisfaction. Interventions based on behavioral science might reduce suboptimal hospice use. Objective: To assess effects of peer comparisons on rates of short hospice LOS for cancer patients at a tertiary comprehensive cancer center. Design: Pre–post design utilizing a peer-comparison feedback intervention comparing individual oncologist hospice data. Setting: Urban, academic, comprehensive cancer center in Maryland. Measurements: Hospice enrollment rate. Median hospice LOS and percentage short hospice LOS (defined as ≤7 days). Results: Sixty oncologists received the intervention. Before the intervention, 394 patients enrolled in hospice for a period of 21 months (18.76 enrollments per month). Median hospice LOS was 14.5 days. After the intervention, 418 patients enrolled in hospice for 14 months (29.85 enrollments per month). Median hospice LOS was nine days. The percentage of patients experiencing a short hospice LOS increased from 33.3% to 43.5%. Conclusions: The methods are not sufficient to conclude that the intervention does not improve hospice use. A substantial number of patients with cancer who used hospice had LOS ≤7 days, a marker of poor quality. Using peer comparison in combination with additional behavioral interventions should be considered to improve end-of-life care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) methods and social learning theory (SLT) require intensive interaction between researchers and stakeholders. Advance care planning (ACP) is valuable before major surgery, but a systematic review found no extant perioperative ACP tools. Consequently, PCOR methods and SLT can inform the development of an ACP educational video for patients and families preparing for major surgery. Objective: The objective is to develop and test acceptability of an ACP video storyline. Design: The design is a stakeholder-guided development of the ACP video storyline. Design-thinking methods explored and prioritized stakeholder perspectives. Patients and family members evaluated storyboards containing the proposed storyline. Setting/Subjects: The study was conducted at hospital outpatient surgical clinics, in-person stakeholder summit, and the 2014 Maryland State Fair. Measurements: Measurements are done through stakeholder engagement and deidentified survey. Results: Stakeholders evaluated and prioritized evidence from an environmental scan. A surgeon, family member, and palliative care physician team iteratively developed a script featuring 12 core themes and worked with a medical graphic designer to translate the script into storyboards. For 10 days, 359 attendees of the 2014 Maryland State Fair evaluated the storyboards and 87% noted that they would be 'very comfortable' or 'comfortable' seeing the storyboard before major surgery, 89% considered the storyboards 'very helpful' or 'helpful,' and 89% would 'definitely recommend' or 'recommend' this story to others preparing for major surgery. Conclusions: Through an iterative process utilizing diverse PCOR engagement methods and informed by SLT, storyboards were developed for an ACP video. Field testing revealed the storyline to be highly meaningful for surgery patients and family members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]