Hospice Management Advisor Archives – May 1, 2005
May 1, 2005
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New physicians’ form may help resolve some issues with care at end of life
Living wills, medical power of attorney, do-not-resuscitate orders, and advance directives have limitations. Some health care providers say the ideal solution resides in a physicians order form developed in the 1990s by a multidisciplinary task force of the Center for Ethics in Health Care at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. -
POLST provides answers to medical questions
The Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form, developed over a four-year period by a multidisciplinary task force of the Center for Ethics in Health Care at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, has been adapted for use in more than a dozen locales. -
Consider how caregiving affects hospice families
One of the major challenges of providing hospice care is working with caregivers who typically have received no training in the role. -
Nursing home patients can benefit from hospice care
As increasing numbers of older Americans spend their last days in a nursing home, its important for nursing home staff, as well as hospice providers, to identify nursing home patients who might qualify for a hospice placement, an end-of-life care expert says. -
Newborn home care can improve outcomes
A newborn is most at risk for jaundice and dehydration during the first 10 days of life, and these conditions mean increased risk for hospitalization and emergency department visits. Unless, as demonstrated by a Pennsylvania State University Childrens Hospital study, the mother and newborn are discharged with orders for a home visit within two days. -
Careful planning required for new mom and baby
Before you jump into a new-mom-and-baby program, be sure there is a market for it, suggests the executive director of HealthTouch in Wakefield, RI. -
Expert: To ease end of life, embrace death
Medicine knows too little about the process of dying. This was among the conclusions reached by a National Institutes of Health consensus panel on end-of-life care convened in December 2004. -
Report shows insurance ‘cracks’ in diabetes care
During a program at the Washington, DC, office of the Kaiser Family Foundation, the American Diabetes Association, in conjunction with the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, unveiled a study delineating how health insurance fails many Americans with diabetes. -
Report studies sources of Medicare spending boost
Recent increases in Medicaid spending have been due largely to rapid increases in the enrollment of low-income families, according to a recent report released by the Kaiser Family Foundation and published in the journal Health Affairs.