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This is the first of a two-part series that looks at quality improvement programs in hospice.
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The only fact known about the quality reporting requirements described in the Proposed Wage Index Rule for FY2012 is that everything is proposed and might change before the final rule is published, according to Liz Silva, vice president of hospice for Deyta, a quality improvement and satisfaction measurement company based in Louisville, KY.
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This study of outcomes among more than 50,000 elderly Medicare beneficiaries found that activities of daily living and mobility had deteriorated substantially more among those who had been hospitalized the previous year, and that only 27% of those who had received mechanical ventilation were alive 1 year after hospitalization.
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This observational study noted that critically ill patients provided with clinical psychological support during their ICU stay had less anxiety, depression, and post traumatic stress disorder at 1 year post-discharge compared to historical controls.
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Volunteers are an important part of any hospice program and efforts to build the number of volunteers is an ongoing effort.
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Involving family members in ICU rounds improved satisfaction in some areas, such as physician communication and decision-making support, but failed to improve overall family satisfaction.
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As people throughout the nation struggle to recover from tornadoes, floods, and other weather-related emergencies, the National Hospice Foundation (NHF) is making funds available to support state organizations as they respond to recovery efforts of providers at the local level.
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A new publication to help with the implementation of Concurrent Care for Children Requirement (CCCR) is available at no cost on the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) web site.
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A position statement and commentary, Hospice and Palliative Care: Ethical Marketing Practices, was recently released by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO).
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Balancing your case-mix to avoid hospice cap deficits doesn't mean discharging patients or admitting patients who don't meet hospice criteria, warns Kyle Terry, MBA, consultant and principal at Hospice CAP Consultants in Owasso, OK. "Although a balance of short- and long-term patients is the best strategy to minimize your risk of receiving a repayment demand letter from CMS based upon the hospice cap, it is important to follow admission criteria guidelines issued by CMS," he says.
