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When first developed in the 1970s, advance directives focused on providing specific legal instructions, such as a patient's wishes to withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment in cases of terminal illness or incapacity. The documents helped physicians avoid legal problems associated with fulfilling the patient's wishes.
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A study evaluating the use of Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) in nursing homes found that patients with a POLST are less likely to receive unwanted hospitalization and medical interventions than patients without a POLST.
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A new compound similar to the active component of marijuana (cannabis) might provide effective pain relief without the mental and physical side effects of cannabis, according to a study in the July issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).
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The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) has created a new home health care committee called Medical Devices and Systems in Home Care Applications to tackle home health care issues, which complements the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) initiative.
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Husbands or wives who care for spouses with dementia are six times more likely to develop the memory-impairing condition than those whose spouses don't have it, according to the results of a 12-year study led by Johns Hopkins, Utah State University, and Duke University.
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About 4 million Americans undergo urinary catheterization annually, and more than 500,000 of these catheterizations involve indwelling catheters left in place for some period.
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The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended that the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary conduct a study of home infusion therapy to evaluate potential program costs and savings, payment options, quality issues, and program integrity associated with a comprehensive benefit under Medicare. The differences between Medicare fee-for-service, Medicare Advantage, and commercial insurance coverage were examined in the GAO report.
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The Joint Commission (TJC) report on the top five most challenging requirements for home health care agencies shows that 28% of agencies surveyed for accreditation by TJC in 2009 were not compliant with the requirement to provide care in accordance with orders.
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Surveyors from The Joint Commission (TJC) look for a comprehensive, well-planned program to assess each patient's risk of falling, identify steps to reduce the risk, and ongoing evaluation of the patient's risk.
