Analyzing the use of specialized palliative care in intensive care unit patients in Germany: a cross-sectional study

BMC Palliat Care. 2025 Mar 20;24(1):74. doi: 10.1186/s12904-025-01718-1.ABSTRACTBACKGROUND: Despite rising importance of integration of palliative medicine in treating life-threatening illnesses in intensive care units (ICU), the extent remains unknown. Using billing data, we analysed the frequency of specialized palliative care use in ICU patients in Germany.METHODS: Billing data (2019 -2022) from the InEK was used in this cross-sectional study on all billed adult ICU cases. Data included case numbers, demographics, diagnoses, treatment procedures, ventilation (≥ 95 h), palliative care frequency.RESULTS: 61,591,299 adult cases were treated, 11.2% (6,912,316) requiring ICU and 499,262 (7.2%) needing long-term ventilation. 44.2% of all ICU cases…
Origen: Analyzing the use of specialized palliative care in intensive care unit patients in Germany: a cross-sectional study – PubMed