Three different therapy thresholds, a new payment model for non-routine medical supplies, and additional questions for OASIS are just a few of the changes in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Home Health Prospective Payment System (HHPPS) for 2008.
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As many providers already know, the so-called "Stark law" prohibits physicians from making referrals to providers who render "designated health services" (DHS), if referring physicians have an ownership or investment interest in, or compensation arrangement with, the provider.
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What makes an award-winning palliative care program? In the case of the program at the University of California at San Francisco, it's the combination of a collaborative approach to individualized patient care; extensive use of hospitalists; and a program that educates practicing physicians and medical, nursing, and pharmacy students and residents.
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Making a home care visit is one of the biggest challenges for physicians and other health care practitioners trained in the medical model because they're not in control of the interview.
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It only took one research paper in 2000 to cast a negative view over grief counseling, but that single widely-repeated and reported study has had long-term and unjustified impact on the practice, an expert says.
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Abbreviations in health care may be efficient, but their use comes at the expense of patient safety, according to a new study published in the September 2007 issue of Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety.
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