Introduction: Electronic Palliative Care Coordination Systems (EPaCCS) are designed to support the documentation and sharing of care preferences of people living with chronic, progressive illnesses across England. EPaCCS are part of a patient’s electronic medical record where a health professional (HP) can update a patient’s preferences for care.

Aim: To evaluate how HPs use EPaCCS to document and share care preferences in the management of patients receiving palliative care.

Methods: An online survey was sent to HPs in community and hospital settings in two regions in England where EPaCCS are embedded in services. The survey consisted of questions about respondents’ level of familiarity with EPaCCS and how they perceive EPaCCS to support documentation and sharing of care preferences as well as items from the NOrmalisation MeAsure Development questionnaire. Descriptive analysis and latent class analysis were used.

Results: We received 569 responses spread across all community and hospital settings. Of the 465 HPs that were able to access an EPaCCS, 43% had a high degree of familiarity with EPaCCS and strongly agreed that it was a normal part of their work. Distinct classes were identified in terms of strength of familiarity with EPaCCS, with hospice teams most likely to feel a strong familiarity with EPaCCS, and general practice and care home workers less likely. 

Conclusions: Widespread variation in access and familiarity with EPaCCS was identified despite the presence of mature systems in surveyed regions. EPaCCS require optimisation to avoid disparities in access to patient care preferences that are documented, shared and accessed across a multitude of care settings. The identification and amelioration of factors restricting HP familiarity and access should be prioritised.