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Health Reform in a New Era: Options for the Obama Administration Karen Davis of the Commonwealth Fund outlines several realistic scenarios on health reform options for the Obama administration: (Fri, 7 Nov 2008 18:55:00 GMT) Washington Voters Pass Death with Dignity Act Assisted suicide measure passed by a vote of 58.68% (yes) to 41.32% (no). (Fri, 7 Nov 2008 18:16:00 GMT) Harvard PCEP program accepting applications The Harvard Medical School Program in Palliative Care Education and Practice (PCEP) is accepting applications for its 2009 trainings. The deadline is January 30, 2009. (Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:07:00 GMT) HFA Teleconference on Diversity and End-Of-Life-Care Hospice Foundation of America is registering sites for its upcoming videoconference on Diversity and End-Of-Life Care. (Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:16:00 GMT) Bill introduced to improve access to investigational drugs by terminally ill patients Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) and Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.) have introduced the Access, Compassion, Care, and Ethics for Seriously Ill Patients Act (ACCESS) to make it easier for terminally ill patients to use treatments in the investigational phase of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. (Fri, 23 May 2008 10:45:00 GMT) OIG Presents Ways to Improve Quality of Nursing Home Care Lewis Morris, Chief Counsel to the Inspector General, testified before Congress on ways to improve the quality of nursing home care. (Sat, 17 May 2008 19:50:00 GMT) Nursing home enforcement needs to get tougher, study says Center for Medicare Advocacy review of nursing home enforcement decisions shows that serious deficiencies often get only modest fines and penalties, calls for tougher action. (Fri, 16 May 2008 20:13:00 GMT) Inspectors Often Overlook Serious Deficiencies at U.S. Nursing Homes, GAO Report Finds State nursing home inspectors miss or minimize deficiencies such as malnutrition, severe bedsores, overuse of medications and abuse that pose threats to patients, according to a report by the Govenment Accountability Office . (Thu, 15 May 2008 9:50:00 GMT) FDA approves Relistor for treatment of opioid-induced constipation The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Relistor™ (methylnaltrexone bromide) subcutaneous injection for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation in patients with advanced illness who are receiving palliative care, when response to laxative therapy has not been sufficient. (Tue, 6 May 2008 16:41:00 GMT) Size of the Medicare funding shortfall exceeds that of the mortgage crisis American Enterprise Institute study says that if Medicare is to pay all of its bills over the next seventy-five years, $36 trillion in general taxes, measured in today's dollars, must be transferred to the trust funds. (Tue, 6 May 2008 20:50:00 GMT) |
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Goodbye, Michael Like millions of people around the world, my heart has been aching this week. Michael Jackson, a musical genius and troubled soul, touched so many of us in life and, now, in death. The collective global grief is palpable; just... |
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lesmorgan: Via GN: Facebook Says It Wants You to Be Less Private - But Why?: Facebook held a conference call today a.. http://tinyurl.com/nodug4 lesmorgan: Via GN: Facebook Says It Wants You to Be Less Private - But Why?: Facebook held a conference call today a.. http://tinyurl.com/nodug4 (Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:54:46 +0000) |
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The Hospice Conversation Several recent articles and blog postings have discussed the emotional barriers to hospice access for people with terminal illnesses, including a just-released Archives of Internal Medicine study (Huskamp et al, http://tinyurl.com/qnj242) about conversations with physicians regarding end-of-life care prospects and... |
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Room for Change: Photos, Photos Everywhere In life memories abound, in grief even more may surface. You may find you as you move from room to room that every surface contains mementos and especially photos of times past and your loved one. As one moves from room to room it may be important to have a blank canvas or neutral spots where you are not over-stimulated visually. In grief one may need some short "time outs" for mini recesses of the mind. Less is More.How often does a single rose bring simple delight over the overstuffed bouquet? How often does the simple waft of cinnamon over... |
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Provision of palliative care for chronic heart failure inpatients: how much do we need? Background: Clinical guidance recommends early CHF palliative care intervention, but the magnitude of need is unknown, and evidence-based referral criteria absent.This study aimed to: 1) Measure point prevalence of inpatients appropriate for palliative care. 2) Identify patient characteristics associated with palliative care appropriateness. 3) Propose evidence-based clinical referral criteria. Methods: Census: all adult medical inpatient files in a UK tertiary teaching hospital were reviewed, identifying patients with CHF as a reason for current admission, using NYHA stage 3/4 classification, cross referenced with existing ECHO data. Each CHF patient was classified according to appropriateness for palliative care against a definition of unresolved pain and/or symptoms and/or psychosocial problems 7 days post admission. Results: Three hundred and sixty-five patient files were reviewed, and 28 clinically identified as having CHF. Of these, 11 had confirmed unpreserved ejection fraction,16 of the 28 patients were appropriate for palliative care. Of the total inpatient population reviewed, 10 (2.7%) had both confirmed ejection fraction and were appropriate for palliative care. Of the 17 clinically-identified CHF patients with no recorded evidence of ejection fraction [less than or equal to]45%, 5 (29.4%) were still appropriate for palliative care. A total of 4.38% of the reviewed inpatient population had a clinical diagnosis of CHF and were appropriate for palliative care. Conclusions: CHF patients with ejection fraction [greater than or equal to]45% also require palliative care. Our conservative criteria suggest a point prevalence of 2.7% of patients having both ejection fraction [less than or equal to]45% and palliative care needs, although this may be a conservative estimate. We present evidence-based referral criteria from the larger multi methods study. |
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Tea at 3 for St Margaret's Hospice! (This is West Country) THE UK is renowned for being a nation of tea drinkers, so why not indulge in the nation’s favourite pastime and raise some money for St Margaret’s Somerset Hospice as part of their Tea at 3 fundraising campaign? (Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:01:26 GMT) |
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Medicare.gov Data Updates This week the data for the following tools was updated on Medicare.gov: Nursing Home Compare Contacts Database Supplier Database and Home Health Compare. (Thu, 26 March 2009 11:30:45 GMT) |
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