Hospital Home Health Archives – January 1, 2009
January 1, 2009
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Increased scrutiny, more complex patients top list of 2009 challenges
Home health managers don't normally keep a crystal ball in their supply closet, but the ability to predict, or at least guess, at the future of home health as our country faces economic and political changes could be helpful. -
Telemonitoring, electronic orders improve efficiency
A shrinking workforce, expanding patient base, and sicker patients are challenges that many home health agencies are meeting with technology. -
HHAs have opportunity to lead in management care
Between 12% and 13% of the people living in the United States are aged 65 or older, and of these people, 80% live with at least one chronic disease. Even when the chronic disease is not the reason for home health referral, care plans must take into account all of the chronic conditions that might affect the patient's outcome. -
Study shows PCA results in more medication errors
Intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) improves pain control for most patients, but a recent study1 shows that errors related to this practice are four times more likely to result in patient harm than errors that occur with other medications. -
Staph germs harder than ever to treat, studies say
At least 10% of infections involving staph bacteria were able to survive antibiotics commonly used to treat them, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report presented at a joint meeting in October of the American Society for Microbiology and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. -
OCR addresses HIPAA privacy in emergencies
The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) recently posted an FAQ regarding the status of the privacy rule during a national or public health emergency on the OCR web site. -
Assistants free up case managers for clinical tasks
At Hudson Health Plan in Tarrytown, NY, case management assistants who handle non-clinical tasks that don't have to be done by a licensed professional are freeing up the nurse case managers for jobs that require their special clinical skills. -
Program gets ill, injured patients back to work
The award-winning medical and disability case management program developed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas has shown a significant impact in getting employees back to work in a timely manner. -
Make written material easy to read, understandable
What makes educational material a must-read? The key is to make documents easy to read and understand, says Doug Seubert, guideline editor in Quality Improvement and Care Management at Marshfield (WI) Clinic.