Hospital Home Health articles from August 2002

Hospital Home Health archives from August 2002

Higher risk of medication errors for seniors: home health bigger challenge; use guidelines specific to elderly, and monitor errors.
August 1, 2002... Each year, more than 200,000 people die and another 2.2 million people are injured due to medication-related problems. (1) Because seniors between the ages of 60 and 65 fill an average of 13.6 prescriptions per year, and that number increases...

CE questions.
August 1, 2002... CE questions Save your monthly issues with the CE questions in order to take the two semester tests in the March and September issues. A Scantron sheet will be inserted in those issues, but the questions will not be repeated. 17....

Spotting patient abuse: signs can be easy to miss; policies and training protect patients and agency.
August 1, 2002... There is no food in the refrigerator, so the home health aide comments that it is time to go grocery shopping. "Oh no. Sybil takes care of that for me," says the patient. When the aide asks what the patient means about Sybil, her daughter,...

Examine staff costs to help bottom line; happy employees can reduce costs.
August 1, 2002... (Editors note: In this second part of a two-part series on cost-cutting strategies, we discuss travel and staff costs. In last month's issue, we discussed cost-cutting strategies for supplies and overhead.) As every home health manager...

To file or not to file: SCIC is hard to define; evaluate claims on financial and clinical basis.(significant change in condition)
August 1, 2002... Most home health workers have heard the definitions of Medicare's significant change in condition (SCIC). Simply stated, it is any unexpected improvement or decline in the patient's condition, or a change in the treatment plan. But identifying...

How can you tell who is right for home care? (LegalEase: understanding laws, rules, regulations).
August 1, 2002... Both Medicare-certified and private-duty home health agencies must manage their patient mix in order to be economically viable. Thus, all home health agencies carefully must control admission and continuation of services. Admitting...

Dialysis in the morning increases length of life.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Elderly patients with renal failure who undergo dialysis treatment in the morning live more than a year longer than patients who receive treatment in the afternoon, according to a group of researchers at Emory University in Atlanta. (1) ...

CDC: vaccinations for tetanus can resume.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention )(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Routine vaccination against tetanus and diphtheria can resume now that supplies of the vaccine have increased. In May 2001, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta recommended that routine booster doses be deferred...