Hospice Management Advisor Archives – July 1, 2009
July 1, 2009
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Discussions on end-of-life issues improve quality of life, save $$$
Talking honestly with patients and their caregivers about end-of-life issues enhances the quality of life during a patient's last days and also reduces health care costs, according to a recent study on costs at the end of life. -
Provide resource nurses to support clinicians
Talking to patients and families about end-of-life care is not a task for which most physicians and other health care clinicians are prepared in their medical training. This is one reason that many don't bring up the subject and focus on curative treatment, even when it might be more appropriate to refer the patient to hospice. -
House calls becoming important part of hospice
The trip to the doctor's office is too much for the 82-year-old patient with Parkinson's to make. His elderly wife knows that she'd have to call an ambulance to take him because of a knee injury that makes it impossible for him to walk -
CDC issues H1N1 guidance for patients with HIV
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has just released interim guidance for clinicians on the H1N1 flu virus and HIV-infected adults and adolescents. -
Washington state woman 1st death under suicide law
Linda Fleming, 66, was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer and became the first person to kill herself under Washington state's new assisted suicide law, known as "death with dignity," according to a story from The Associated Press (AP). -
Hospice care underused by many terminally ill
Hospice, a well-established approach to palliative care, has enabled countless people worldwide to die with dignity, according to a released statement from Harvard Medical School in Boston. -
Contracts add legal twist to family health care
Financial contracts to care for sick or aging relatives - nearly unthinkable just a decade ago - are drawing new interest as everyday Americans wrestle with the time and expense of providing long-term health care, a University of Illinois legal expert says. -
Florida web site compares hospices
The FloridaHealthFinder.gov web site has been redesigned, and a new hospice comparison tool has been added. (Editor's note: Under "Find and Compare," click on "Compare Hospice Providers.")