Hospice Management Advisor articles from March 2009

Hospice Management Advisor archives from March 2009

Hospices start their trip down the road of quality improvement.
March 1, 2009... Hospices start their trip down the road of quality improvement QAPI requirements go into effect as hospices figure out how to meet them A group of 15 Indiana hospices has a two-year head start on all other hospices to meet the Quality...

Data collected for Indiana QAPI project.(Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement )
March 1, 2009... Data collected for Indiana QAPI project Outcomes, operations, and practices monitored The Indiana Association for Hospice and Home Care (IAHHC) in Indianapolis initiated a benchmarking project in 2007 to help hospice members meet the...

Involve employees in quality efforts.
March 1, 2009... Involve employees in quality efforts Ask for input, oversight to improve acceptance No one wants to feel as if they are being given busy work, but if a performance improvement study isn't presented correctly to staff members, the data...

High use rate is result of multifaceted marketing.
March 1, 2009... High use rate is result of multifaceted marketing Follow through on promises made in promotions How does a hospice located in a county facing high unemployment and a population of only 63,000 become and stay one of the highest-utilized...

Case managers can help with end-of-life situations.
March 1, 2009... Case managers can help with end-of-life situations What can be done when physician resists hospice It's a situation case managers encounter with agonizing frequency: Physicians who keep pumping medication into patients who are...

Case managers must face feelings about EOL.
March 1, 2009... Case managers must face feelings about EOL If case managers want to effectively help patients and family members with end-of-life (EOL) issues, they need to examine their own feelings about death and dying, says Catherine M. Mullahy, RN,...

Involve pharmacists in a pain management team.
March 1, 2009... Involve pharmacists in a pain management team Hospitals need a pharmacist who specializes in pain management on board, although this model hasn't taken off as a trend as quickly as many experts in the field believe it should. "There...

Reasons pain services should include pharmacists.
March 1, 2009... Reasons pain services should include pharmacists There are a number of reasons pain management should include pharmacy input, including the following: • Hospitals are enhancing palliative care services. Many hospitals are...

Respiratory depression linked to opioids.
March 1, 2009... Respiratory depression linked to opioids As a growing body of evidence suggests that aggressive treatment of pain, by intravenous or neuraxial opioids, might be associated with respiratory depression, the American Society of...

Study indicates reasons for racial disparities.(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Study indicates reasons for racial disparities Investigators at the University of Pennsylvania in their study found that hospice services have restrictions that reduce usage by many patients who are most in need, particularly...

Joint Commission: No new patient safety goals.(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Joint Commission: No new patient safety goals Organization is conducting extensive review There will be no new National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) established in 2009 for implementation in 2010 as The Joint Commission performs an...

Journal Review: Phase 1 oncology trial patients don't ask for palliative care.
March 1, 2009... Journal Review Phase 1 oncology trial patients don't ask for palliative care Phase I oncology trial participants often are excluded from hospice services. However, a recent study shows that although they do suffer the same symptoms of...

Hospice agency provides more than mixed agency.
March 1, 2009... Hospice agency provides more than mixed agency It is not uncommon for an agency to offer home health and hospice services because patient populations are similar and regulations favor the mix of two services in one agency. While it is...