More than a third of Americans now die under the care of a hospice service. But a University of Michigan study reveals major gaps in the availability of hospice care across the country gaps that the researchers attribute directly to the way hospice care is currently funded in America.
An Oregon-pioneered program aimed at improving health care for those with advanced illness is now receiving national attention from AARP. The recently released report about the Physicians Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) program points out that despite challenges and barriers, the POLST program does enrich care for individuals in the states that utilize POLST.
According to the 2010 NHPCO Hospice Facts and Figures: Hospice Care in America, dementia represents the third most frequently cited non-cancer primary diagnosis for hospice.
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization has issued a position statement and commentary, Hospice and Palliative Care: Ethical Marketing Practices, that guides providers to the use of sound, ethical practices that enhance the perception of hospice in the community.
A short trial of a synthetic cannabinoid for people with advanced cancer was shown to improve caloric intake, appetite, and sensory perceptions around food, as well as quality of life.
As hospice managers face the advent of quality reporting programs, Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) programs are being evaluated to ensure the capability to meet requirements for Medicare programs.
The use of biomarkers from the CSF, as well as newer PET imaging ligands, allow for an accurate diagnosis in patients who have a syndrome of posterior cortical atrophy.
Investigators at the royal melbourne hospital in Australia reviewed their 11-year database of consecutive ruptured intracranial aneurysms treated with endovascular coiling or craniotomy and analyzed outcome using the modified Rankin Scale at 6 months.
Careful testing of jaw muscle power can help to make an accurate clinical diagnosis in acute, flaccid quadriparesis.
