Hospice Management Advisor Archives – November 1, 2004
November 1, 2004
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Special Report: Expanding Hospice to Alternative Sites - National trends show a need to link hospice care and long-term facilities
This month, we begin a two-part series of articles on how hospices can extend their expertise. In this issue, we examine potential links between hospice and long-term care facilities. The December issue will discuss how to make the most of partnerships with assisted living facilities. -
Experts offer these tips for bonding with SNFs
When a hospice manager visits with a nursing home director to discuss hospice referrals, the focus should be on more than just what the hospice can do for patients; emphasis also should be placed on what the hospice can do for the skilled nursing facility (SNF) and its staff, experts advise. -
Turn core values into value-added improvements
It may be popular these days for hospices to create a statement of their core values as part of a management and organizational exercise, but thats just the easy part. The real challenge is translating the mission statement into a quality improvement foundation for all that a hospice organization does. -
Guest Column: Managing pressure ulcers lowers liability risks
It now appears that courts and juries may have a great deal of sympathy for patients with limited life expectancies, so providers must devote increasing attention to risk management issues when caring for terminally ill patients. -
Guest Column: Follow your own rules for background checks
Screening procedures ensure an applicants satisfaction of licensing and other technical qualifications required for providing medical care. However, the procedures should include reviewing a prospective employees suitability for the unsupervised nature of home health care service. -
JCAHO advises caution with certain drug names
Home health agencies must choose at least 10 look-alike and sound-alike drug names to place on their watch list of medications that can be easily confused, in order to meet the 2005 National Patient Safety Goal that focuses on improving the safety of medication use. -
News from the end of life: Report shows value of telemonitoring
Remote physiological monitoring can help reduce hospital visits, length of stay, and health care costs for heart failure patients while improving patients quality of life, according to a study by the New England Healthcare Institute.