Hospice Management Advisor Archives – February 1, 2004
February 1, 2004
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Hospice status survives and advances in Medicare reform legislation
While the debate over Medicare reform swirled around how to provide relief to senior citizens burdened by the high cost of prescription drugs, care for the dying was quietly improved. Once the massive Medicare reform bill was signed into law Dec. 8, hospices became the recipients of changes that industry experts say will help increase access to hospice care. -
Hospice Trends: National study provides great marketing data
Left to die in nursing homes and hospitals, terminal patients and their families are largely underserved. Hospices, on the other hand, provide a variety of services that meet the needs of the terminally ill and their families. That, in a few words, is what a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. -
Palliative consultations improve outcomes — study
Palliative care consultations can lead to improved patient outcomes, including relief of dyspnea, anxiety, and sleeplessness, and may reduce the number of times patients must seek primary or urgent care, according to a new study. -
Guest Column: Providers have recourse when MCOs don’t pay
Home care providers and patients remain concerned about the decisions that managed care organizations (MCOs) and other payers make about whether to pay for care. Both groups often perceive that the true decision-makers about treatment may be payers, not providers. This perception has resulted in a number of lawsuits against payers related to payment denials. -
Limit nursing shifts to protect patients
Nurses should be restricted from working more than 12 hours at time or more than 60 hours per week to prevent error-producing fatigue, an Institute of Medicine panel recommended in a comprehensive review of the nursing work environment. -
Pain cases settled: Nursing home fined
In a case watched closely as a harbinger of what can happen when a health care provider undertreats pain, two doctors and two health care facilities reached settlements just before the case was scheduled for trial. -
Coming year colored by Medicare reform package
With passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (HR 1) in the last days of November 2003, many of the issues that home health administration managers will be related to this legislation. This article introduces a few of the key issues addressed by this new legislation.