Hospice Management Advisor Archives – June 1, 2008
June 1, 2008
View Issues
-
New study shows significant gaps in the availability of hospice care
Unfortunately, even with the growth in hospice access as a result of the Medicare Hospice Benefit enacted in 1982, a new study shows significant gaps in access due to locations of hospice agencies. -
Sometimes low-tech works best in rural areas
One of the keys to a successful telehospice program is to make sure the equipment you select works in all types of situations. -
Comfort Pack reduces anxiety, improves care
An overnight delivery of pain medication that took four days and a charge of $125 for eight pills from a hospital pharmacy are two of the reasons that the staff at Hospice of the Hills in Rapid City, SD, started looking for a new way to help patients with emergency needs. -
Staff training key to successful use of EHR
Electronic health records aren't new to the staff at St. John Home Health and Hospice in Tulsa, OK. However, when the agency switched from its 11-year-old software to a new program, it was not a simple process, but it was a necessary one. -
Hospice wage index for 2009 proposed
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released proposed changes to the Medi-are hospice wage index for FY 2009. -
Advance directive for psychiatric issues
When the first psychiatric advance directives (PADs) began to appear in state legislation more than 20 years ago, they were largely considered to be an end-of-life tool, much like general advance directives. But as more states have passed PAD laws — 25 states now have laws specifically providing for PADs — their usefulness has expanded. -
Nurses' bags are a key in infection control
Wash hands, wear gloves, and clean equipment. All nurses know that these are the basic steps to take to protect patients from infection. What about the nurses' bag? How clean is it, and does it pose an infection threat? -
Society issues policy on use of palliative care
Palliative care is an obligation owed every patient with critical disease, and not just those for whom curative options have been exhausted, according to a national medical society. -
More hospitals offering palliative care
According to a new analysis by the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), U.S. hospitals continue to implement palliative care programs at a rapid pace. -
Hospice workers, patients are at risk for suicide
People in occupations involving high stress or high burnout rates, such as hospice care, are at risk for suicide, advises the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). People having unrelenting long-term pain or a disabling or terminal illness also are at risk, ACEP says. -
Antibiotics and end-of-life in dementia patients
Antibiotics are frequently prescribed to patients with advanced dementia in nursing homes, which poses two potential ethical dilemmas, both in the treatment burden placed on patients at the end of life and the spread of antimicrobial resistance in the nursing home community, a research group reports.