Hospice Management Advisor Archives – January 1, 2008
January 1, 2008
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New study shows costs of hospice care is less for most end-of-life patients
Hospice managers have long suspected that their care both improves quality and saves payers money. Now there's a major research study of Medicare end-of-life patients that demonstrates that hospice care saves money for most end-of-life patients. -
Become more vigilant about Medicare cost reports
Some hospices pay too little attention to how they complete Medicare cost reports. The result? Bad data at a time when good information is critically needed, as the industry undergoes regulatory scrutiny, one expert says. -
Patients are suicidal more often than expected
It's an unpleasant reality that hospice professionals sometimes encounter a patient or family members who ask them to assist in hastening the patient's death. -
Rising rate of MRSA boosts need for education
Antibiotic-resistant infections are not new to the hospice setting, but headlines throughout the country have increased public awareness of the potential risk of infection. -
CDC answers questions related to MRSA
Although the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is not as high in hospice care as it is in hospitals, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention addresses the risk and identification of the infection ... -
Hospice rotation proves beneficial to med students
A third-year medical student sits with an end-stage lung cancer patient who is in hospice. The patient wants to talk, but not about pain or death or advance directives; he wants to know the student's plans for the future. -
Prescribing changes during palliative care
A study intended to determine how prescribing for comorbid illnesses and symptom control changes during the palliative phase of a terminal illness found older people take more medications ...