Hospital Management
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Justifying short inpatient stays just got easier — or did it?
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has modified the controversial two-midnight rule to allow shorter stays to be billed as inpatient stays based on the physician’s judgment, but the change means that complete documentation is more important than ever before.
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Talk to each other to improve patient care, reduce readmissions
When hospital staff start examining the reasons patients are being readmitted, the famous line from the movie Cool Hand Luke may come to mind: “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”
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Families say nursing care is key support for end-of-life care
Vigilance in the provision of nursing care, communication of even slight changes in the patient’s condition, and validation of the family’s decision-making increase family members’ comfort during the dying process, a recent qualitative study suggests.
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New guidance on palliative care delivery in oncology practices
A new guidance statement to define high-quality primary palliative care delivery in medical oncology has been developed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
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Many academics on industry boards: Conflicts of interest are ethical concern
Academics from medical schools and research institutions hold nearly 10% of positions on boards of directors at publicly traded healthcare companies, according to a recent study.
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“Instant access” culture driving trend toward at-home testing
Ethical issues involving at-home self-testing include patient autonomy, the fact that knowledgeable providers aren’t interpreting findings, and the possibility of false or misleading results.
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Did ethics consults occur too late? Reluctant clinicians are one reason
Ethics consults often are called only after the patient lacks decision-making capacity and death is inevitable despite aggressive treatment.
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Greater palliative care knowledge in nursing homes linked to less aggressive end-of-life care
The more nursing directors knew about palliative care, the less likely their patients experienced feeding tube insertion, injections, restraints, suctioning, and emergency department visits, according to a recent study.
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Failure to diagnose cervical cancer leads to $9.6 million liability for medical center
In 2011, a 61-year-old woman was informed she had stage 3 cervical cancer. She was told this news at the same medical center from which she had received her last three yearly vaginal examinations. In each of her prior three examinations, the woman complained of pain, but she was informed her Pap smears were negative for cancer.
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State malpractice cap shelters healthcare facility from paying $3.5 million of $7.5 million jury award
In 2010, a woman had a section of her colon removed and believed there was a cancerous mass on the removed section. The remainder of her colon was stitched together by a surgeon at a medical center. The woman became increasingly ill over the next couple of months and received follow-up care from a physician at the same healthcare facility where the surgeon performed the original procedure.