UpToDate, a leading clinical decision support resource for physicians, in July added palliative care as the newest of its 22 medical specialties. The palliative care section covers a variety of topics focused on improving symptoms and providing best quality of life for patients with serious illnesses. The new service resulted from two years of extensive collaboration by a team of 100 leading palliative care specialists from around the world, led by Harvard Medical School palliative care physicians J. Andrew Billings, MD, and Susan D. Block, MD, reviewing and grading the body of research and scientific literature on palliative care.