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The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) in Alexandria, VA, has received funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to launch a program improving access to quality hospice and palliative care to veterans, with a specific focus on reaching homeless veterans and those living in rural areas.
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Criminal or administrative charges and sanctions for prescribing opioid analgesics are rare, according to a recent study.1 In addition, there appears to be little objective basis for concern that pain specialists have been "singled out" for prosecution or administrative sanctioning for such offenses, the study found.
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In a new study, for which Nancy Kass, ScD, of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics is the lead author, she and others outline their vision of an ethical response to a severe influenza pandemic: Keep society functioning.
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"Increasingly, physicians and managed care organizations are being held accountable for quality of care based on the processes and outcomes of medical care and patient satisfaction. Yet high-quality care delivery involves more than good technical quality and acceptable customer service it also means upholding high ethical standards."
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Even with the driven culture of modern medicine, one study published recently in the Journal of Medical Ethics found that 73% of 338 respondents said that they usually discuss their mistakes with their colleagues.
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The IntegratedEthics program developed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for its facilities, which comprise the largest health care system in the United States, has drawn interest and attention both domestically and internationally.
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Zero needlesticks. That is the goal set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta as one of the Seven Healthcare Safety Challenges. So why did CDC contract with Novartis for prefilled, thimerosal-free syringes that had conventional needles attached? Federal law has required the use of safety-engineered devices for almost eight years.
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Hazards faced by sonographers now are addressed in the online safety module, eTool, of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The segment provides possible solutions to musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) risks and suggests equipment that could reduce the hazards.
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BJC HealthCare, a highly respected 13-hospital system in St. Louis, has become the nation's first multihospital system to require influenza vaccinations as "as a condition of employment for all employees, clinical contract workers, and volunteers."
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At 3 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon in August, an SUV pulled up to the emergency department at SSM DePaul Health Center in St. Louis. A security officer peered in and saw three men covered in a yellowish powder. It looked like anthrax. Their skin was literally blue they were cyanotic and near death.
