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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.
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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.
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Dogs are a natural addition to a kid's camp, especially a grief camp offered by a hospice.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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1. About 25% of all Americans who are dying are veterans men and women who have served our country as members of the Armed Forces. Yet only 4% of dying veterans die within the Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare Network; the majority of veterans are cared for by hospice and Health care professionals in the community.
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The Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) recently released "Veterans and End-of-Life Care," a free online webinar written by Deborah Grassman, ARNP, of the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
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President Obama's administration reversed its decision to revise a Medicare regulation to include paying physicians to discuss good advance care planning with patients. This decision is a setback from an ethical and health care perspective, according to advocates for end-of-life planning.
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Finding a way to serve hospice patients who are spread over a 10,000 square mile area is challenging, especially when some staff members are driving as much as 60 miles one way to reach a patient's home.
