PathWell: The development of a triage center and access hub for comprehensive palliative care in oncology.

162 Background: Routine screening to identify palliative care (PC) needs, followed by assessment and management of needs is critical for high-quality cancer care. Our current healthcare system there is poor screening for PC needs, low referral rates to PC services, and unmet needs. In response to these gaps, we developed a dedicated triage center to streamline the assessment of PC needs and better connect patients with appropriate supportive care services. Methods: We identified 24 services at our academic cancer center that provide PC and supportive services. Examples include PC, psycho-oncology, survivorship, nutrition, and social work. Representatives from these groups convened to map service overlap and develop referral structures based on patient need and acuity. A triage hub (PathWell) was established to complete uniform assessments of patient needs and determine appropriate referrals. The hub utilized a centralized scheduling platform, new patient coordinators, and an oncology nurse for assessment ...