The Effect of a Standardized Triage Process on Efficiency and Productivity of an Inpatient Palliative Care Team.

An efficient and streamlined consult triage process had a positive impact on our palliative care team's ability to reach patients. We were able to generate more physician visits and RVUs despite a decrease in physician clinical time, and our penetration rate per physician clinical FTE improved. Our findings highlight the importance of thoughtful and appropriate triage, not to mention teamwork, in helping to augment patient access to palliative care.