Hospice Management Advisor Archives – June 1, 2010
June 1, 2010
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Are you talking to patients about deactivation of their ICDs?
The patient was dying of lung cancer and planned to die at home with his family nearby. Instead, he was raced to the emergency department as he died because his implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) kept firing an electrical impulse to restore his heart rhythm. -
How to initiate a difficult conversation
The ideal time for a patient to learn about the potential need to deactivate the electrical shock feature of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) is when the decision to implant the device is made, says Chuck Wellman, MD, FAAHPM, chief medical officer at Hospice of the Western Reserve in Cleveland, OH. -
Policy should outline steps for deactivation
The policy for deactivation of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) at Hospice of the Western Reserve in Cleveland, OH, clearly spells out the steps and responsibilities of deactivating an ICD's shocking program. -
Physician narrative must be carefully evaluated
This is the second of a two-part series examining some of the regulatory and financial changes faced by hospices during recent years. -
FDA orders Baxter to recall infusion pumps
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent a letter to Baxter Healthcare Corp. on April 30 ordering the company to recall and destroy all of its Colleague Volumetric Infusion Pumps in use in the United States. -
FDA launches initiative to reduce pump risks
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a new initiative to address safety problems associated with external infusion pumps. -
Law and ethics complement each other
While there are certain scenarios regarding patient care when what is written in the law might seem to counter what is ethically appropriate, in general, the law and ethics complement each other in the health care arena, according to ethical experts interviewed by AHC Media, publisher of Hospice Management Advisor. -
Legality and ethics can create misperceptions
Although most patient care scenarios can be worked out through careful communication with all those involved, there are certain situations where even greater diplomacy may be required on the part of ethics consultants. -
Journal Review: Documentation presents challenges at hospices
Patient care is always the hospice nurse's first priority rather than documentation, but in today's legal and regulatory environment, documentation of all aspects of nursing care is critical. -
ID governor asks legislature to revisit bill
Compassion & Choices, an advocacy group for "aid in dying" at the end of life, reports that Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, in a letter to the Idaho Senate, encouraged the legislature to revisit a particular bill. -
HHS asked to address advance directive issues
In a memorandum, President Obama has asked Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, to develop guidance for hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid to ensure that patients' advance directives are respected.