Hospice Management Advisor Archives – October 1, 2003
October 1, 2003
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Looking for a hospice advocate? Consider your state’s attorney general
Failure to control pain or to provide health care in accordance with a patients wishes is a matter of consumer protection, according to Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson. He says he hopes the 49 other attorneys general in the United States will see matters the same way. -
Active AGs are making a big difference nationally
Although Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson focused his year-long presidency of the National Association of Attorneys General on improving end-of-life care and urging his colleagues to take a more active role in protecting terminally ill patients, several of his colleagues are at the forefront of changing state policies and affecting provider and consumer behavior. -
Pain-relief measures take root nationwide
Attorneys general should play a role in advising state agencies and educating others about how laws and policies related to end-of-life care should be enforced, especially if they seem to be at odds with patient rights. The most salient example of this conflict has been the ongoing battle between end-of-life care advocates and law enforcement agencies. -
Hospice Trends: Can hospice houses be financially viable?
Recent traffic on end-of-life professional listservs, presentations at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization conference in September, and new projects under way in communities from coast to coast attest to hospice houses continued attraction for hospices seeking ways to establish and operate houses of their own. -
Education programs create loyal, valuable employees
Finding the secret to successful retention of home health aides is not easy, but HomeCare Options, a Paterson, NJ, agency with 350 aides with an average tenure of eight years, may be holding the key to the success other agencies want.