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Even though hospice care touches the lives of more than 800,000 Americans with life-threatening illnesses and their families per year, many critics have questioned the dominant payment mechanism for such care, the Medicare Hospice Benefit, which was implemented 20 years ago this November.
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The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in Alexandria, VA, has issued a list of talking points hospices can use when discussing the New England Journal of Medicine-published study on Oregon patients who died after refusing food and water.
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Two severely ill patients in the emergency department of your hospital need admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), but only one bed is available. Who gets admitted first?
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For many years, institutions involved in training the nations bioscience researchers have spent a great deal of time and money ensuring that their graduates function at the cutting edge of science and technology.
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For many years, institutions involved in training the nations bioscience researchers have spent a great deal of time and money ensuring that their graduates function at the cutting edge of science and technology.
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Although all health care institutions and specialties are challenged by simultaneously rising costs and lack of financial resources, the problem is particularly acute in critical care, say experts.
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In teaching health care providers how to care for patients at the end of life, many institutions forget to teach the providers that they need to care for themselves as well.
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Medication errors have been publicized as among the most dangerous risks to emergency department and hospitalized patients. Newspaper and magazine articles have leaped on the issue. While physicians and hospitals would like to believe this is just news propaganda to increase sales, they are wrong. Studies have shown that patients are dying from preventable adverse drug events (ADEs). Although hospitals, physicians, nurses, risk managers, and pharmacists have made attempts to reduce risks and prevent ADEs, there is much more that must be done. This months ED Legal Letter describes different types of ADEs and develops risk management strategies to reduce the chance of medication error. Adopting the guidelines provided in this issue will create a safer environment for our patients.
