The HomePal study was designed to provide rigorous evidence and policy guidance for providing more-accessible, more-effective, more-affordable, high-quality, home-based palliative care (HBPC) through telehealth tools. The comparative effectiveness design was framed to assess whether remote physician video consults can substitute for the initial physician home visit to improve program efficiency and enhance care coordination and team communications to promote patient trust and confidence in the care team. Patient and family stakeholders felt that the comparators were appropriate and important because they preferred a timely video visit with the physician, facilitated by a nurse in the patient’s home, vs seeing the physician much later, not seeing the physician in person at all, or having to manage the video technology themselves.
