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For the first time since the Medicare Conditions of Participation (COPs) were created for hospice in 1983, significant revisions that affect the way hospice care is delivered have been developed. The revisions focus on patient rights, improvement in outcomes, and strengthened quality improvement programs.
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The types of quality improvement projects that will be required by early February 2009 by the Hospice Conditions of Participation (COPs) for Medicare will be challenging for some hospice organizations, but they will not be impossible if each hospice chooses the right projects, says Malene S. Davis, MSN, MBA, CHPN, president and CEO of Capital Hospice in Falls Church, VA, and president of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO).
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The month of June saw many hospice managers scrambling to develop data collection processes and test software to make sure that claims filed after the July 1, 2008, implementation date for the new Medicare hospice billing rule would be paid.
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Although fundraising efforts are an important part of any hospice organization's financial stability, the staff at Community Health Professionals in Van Wert, OH, saw the census double during the community capital campaign.
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Relistor (methylnaltrexone bromide) to help restore bowel function in patients with late-stage, advanced illness who are receiving opioids on a continuous basis to help alleviate their pain.
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The Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) recently released a report addressing the state of security of patient information in U.S. hospitals. HIMSS Analytics surveyed 263 senior information technology (IT) executives, chief security officers, and health information managers for the report.
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The prevalence [of obesity] in both adults and children is reaching epidemic proportions and has led to a prediction by CDC that the life expectancy in this country would start declining in the next 20 years. In fact, according to CDC, it has already fallen in a couple of states as reported recently in the news media.
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Shingles vaccine added to CDC list of vaccines for adults 60 and older; CDC recommends Tdap for postpartum women; new study suggests sequential therapy with antibiotics for H. pylori may be more effective than standard therapy; FDA Actions.
