Effect of an Artificial Intelligence Decision Support Tool on Palliative Care Referral in Hospitalized Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Palliative care services are commonly provided to hospitalized patients, but accurately predicting who needs them remains a clinical challenge.To assess the effectiveness on clinical outcomes of an artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) decision support tool for predicting patient need for palliative care services in the hospital.The study design was a pragmatic, cluster-randomized, stepped-wedge clinical trial in 12 nursing units at two hospitals over a 15-month period between August 19, 2019, and November 17, 2020. Eligible patients were randomly assigned to either a medical service consultation recommendation triggered by an AI/ML tool predicting the need for palliative care services or usual care. The primary outcome was palliative care consultation note. Secondary outcomes included: hospital readmissions, length of stay, transfer to intensive care and palliative care consultation note by nursing unit.A total of 3183 patient hospitalizations were enrolled in the trial. Of eligible patients, A total of 2544 patients were randomized to the decision support tool (1212; 48%) and usual care (1332; 52%). Of these, 1717 patients (67%) were retained for analyses. Patients randomized to the decision support tool had a statistically significant higher incidence rate of palliative care consultation compared to the control group (IRR, 1.44 [95% CI, 1.11-1.92]). Exploratory evidence suggested that the decision support tool group reduced 60-day and 90-day hospital readmissions (OR, 0.75 [95% CI, 0.57, 0.97]) and (OR, 0.72 [95% CI, 0.55-0.93]) respectively.A clinical decision support tool integrated into a palliative care practice and leveraging an AI/ML algorithm demonstrated an increase in the rate of speciality palliative care consultation among hospitalized patients and reductions in hospitalizations.