Hospice Management Advisor Archives – June 1, 2011
June 1, 2011
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CMS evaluates hospice cap changes to offer options
After two district courts struck down the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) regulations for calculating hospice caps, CMS issued an unprecedented rule that allowed all hospices with appropriately filed hospice cap repayment demand appeals to avoid going to court. -
A good balancing act reduces risk
Balancing your case-mix to avoid hospice cap deficits doesn't mean discharging patients or admitting patients who don't meet hospice criteria, warns Kyle Terry, MBA, consultant and principal at Hospice CAP Consultants in Owasso, OK. "Although a balance of short- and long-term patients is the best strategy to minimize your risk of receiving a repayment demand letter from CMS based upon the hospice cap, it is important to follow admission criteria guidelines issued by CMS," he says. -
Use behavior not vital signs to assess pain
How is your pain today? On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain? Are you comfortable today? Did the medication lessen your pain? -
Old dogs teach new tricks at this hospice
Dogs are a natural addition to a kid's camp, especially a grief camp offered by a hospice. -
Can ethics and economics share common ground?
Hospital ethics committees sometimes find they are drawn into local cases that reflect national debates over health care costs and policies. These debates might surface when there are conflicts between family and hospital providers over continuing life-sustaining treatment, including nutritional support and ventilator care. But adding health care costs to the mix can make the situation more complicated. -
Palliative care model fits biomed ethics principles
Some of the core principles of medical ethics are patient determination, doing good for patients, and doing justice. These also are some of the chief attributes of palliative care, experts say. -
Caregivers continue to experience distress
Caregivers of the chronically critically ill report restrictions on personal and social aspects of their lives, they continue to be distressed by problematic patient behaviors, and they are most distressed by their loved ones' continued reports of pain and discomfort up to 6 months post-ICU discharge. -
Where the nation stands on end-of-life care
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) has published a report about end-of-life care, emphasizing the importance of more personal and private discussions about the topic. -
CDC report identifies health disparities
Americans' differences in income, race/ethnicity, gender, and other social attributes make a difference in how likely they are to be healthy, sick, or die prematurely, according to a news release issued on a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).