Hospice Management Advisor articles from September 2003

Hospice Management Advisor archives from September 2003

Consumer-directed health plans: what they may mean for hospice: you will need well-informed consumers.
September 1, 2003... There's a new health care insurance game in town. And unlike other permutations of managed care, consumer-directed health plans give more purchasing power to consumers--and not their employers. This new model assumes that if consumers have more...

Consumer-driven plans expect rapid growth: consumer is primary purchaser.
September 1, 2003... It seems every new decade brings another twist to financing health care. Over the past 30 years, terms such as managed care, diagnosis-related groups, and capitation have become part of the health care industry lexicon. Now come...

Despite all the talk, demo projects are rare: valuable lessons are going unlearned.(Hospice Trends)
September 1, 2003... Even though hospice care touches the lives of more than 800,000 Americans with life-threatening illnesses and their families per year, many critics have questioned the dominant payment mechanism for such care, the Medicare Hospice Benefit,...

NEJM: some hospice patients hasten own death: study surveyed nurses to obtain data.(New England Journal of Medicine)
September 1, 2003... A New England Journal of Medicine-published study suggests that patients who refuse food or fluids hasten their own demise. The article, titled "Nurses' Experiences with Hospice Patients Who Refuse Food and Fluids to Hasten Death," provoked a...

Hospice served 15% more patients last year: NHPCO says 885,000 served in 2002.(National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization)
September 1, 2003... In 2002, more than 885,000 Americans living with a life-limiting illness were served by the nation's hospice providers, according to data collected by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) in Alexandria, VA. This...

Need to find money for a new program? Look for grants that fit your mission.
September 1, 2003... You've got a great idea for a new program, but you don't have the cash to cover the start-up expenses or maintain the program while you build it. There may be grant money with your name on it--you just have to use the right approach. "We...