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[Editor's note: Dr. Banja is a Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine; a Medical Ethicist at the Center for Ethics; and the Director of the Section on Ethics in Research at Emory University in Atlanta. E-mail: jbanja@emory.edu.]
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While psychiatric advance directives are not new in concept, patients tend not to take advantage of these tools.
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A study published in the March 9, 2009, issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, which revealed that patients with advanced cancer who reported talking to their physicians about their end-of-life care wishes had significantly lower health care costs in the last week of life.
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Feelings of abandonment on the part of patients and their caregivers are not uncommon as they transition from treatment to end-of-life care, according to a recent study completed by a team at the University of Washington.
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Boutique; concierge; retainer. These are all words used to describe physician practices that charge patients an annual fee for access. And while there don't appear to be firm numbers on such practices, some say they are meeting an important need in a broken health care system.
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[Editor's note: This is Part 2 of an article that appeared in the April 1, 2009, issue of Medical Ethics Advisor.]
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(Editor's note: Janiak has served as an emergency medicine medico-legal consultant for more than 30 years, and he has reviewed hundreds of malpractice cases. In the process, he has recognized common patterns and mistakes that emergency physicians make that set them up to be sued. With his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, Janiak points out the following potential mistakes and ways that lawsuits are created.)
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Among the most challenging standards from The Joint Commission for the first half of 2008 was standard IM.6.50 "Designated qualified staff accept and transcribe verbal or telephone orders." According to the organization, 40% of hospitals were not in full compliance.
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The Joint Commission has released a monograph titled "Measuring Hand Hygiene Adherence; Overcoming the Challenges," to help health care organizations target their efforts in measuring hygiene performance.
