Hospital Home Health Archives – April 1, 2005
April 1, 2005
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Newborn home care can improve outcomes and expand services
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 service, be sure you have a market for the program, suggests the executive director of HealthTouch in Wakefield, RI. -
Special-needs patients need care during disasters
While Floridians are relieved to be over the 2004 hurricane season and able to focus on the ongoing cleanup, other parts of the country have been dealing with snow and ice storms, and flooding that disrupt transportation and the ability of people, including home health agency staff members, to perform daily duties as normal. One benefit of the unusual hurricane activity in Florida is the visible reminder to all home health agencies to make sure their emergency preparedness plans cover opportunities to help during an emergency. -
Expert: To ease the end of life, embrace death
The National Institutes of Health consensus panel on end-of-life care convened in December 2004, and among the conclusions reached by the panel of experts on death and palliative care is that medicine knows too little about the process of dying. -
Pathway model improves patient care, teamwork
Hospice Care Plus of Berea, KY, switched to a pathway model for patient care in the mid-1990s as way to improve care for patients and their families. What theyve found in the decade since beginning the process of changing their care model is that it also has improved teamwork, communication, and staff satisfaction. -
Report shows insurance ‘cracks’ in diabetes care
During a program at the Washington, DC, office of the Kaiser Family Foundation, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in Alexandria, VA, in conjunction with the George-town 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. -
News Briefs
Beginning in Fall 2005, three new quality measures will be included in Home Health Compare, the system developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that enables the public to compare a home health agencys performance in specific areas to another agencys performance.