Liebert News [Новость добавлена - 09.12.2009]

December 9, 2009

NHPCO urges support for hospice amendment The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization urges the hospice community to contact their members of Congress and voice their support for the Wyden-Feingold amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, which would eliminate health care reform productivity cuts to hospice. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Russell Feingold (D-WI) introduced the measure. NHPCO is calling on hospice providers to inform their Senators about the need for this amendment so that they are familiar with it. The House of Representatives passed a bill with the productivity cuts. The organization expects quick action on the health reform bills and asks hospice providers to make the effort to show their support for the amendment. http://www.nhpco.org/i4a/pages/Index.cfm?pageID=6142

Severe pain associated with falls in older adults Older adults with two or more locations of chronic musculoskeletal pain or pain considered severe or interfering with daily activities were more likely to fall than other adults with no or little pain, according to a study reported in JAMA. Lead author Suzanne G. Leveille, PhD, RN, from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the University of Massachusetts in Boston, and colleagues, conducted a study, enrolling 749 adults age 70 years or older who completed pain questionnaires and reported falls during an 18-month period. Patients reported 1,029 falls during the study period. Fifty-five percent of participants fell at least once. The authors indicate that pain contributes to functional decline, muscle weakness, and changes in gait, which could lead to falls. Pain may also distract the person who then cannot take steps to avoid a fall. http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/302/20/2214?etoc

Ohio university to study unfinished business at end-of-life The Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and the College of Arts and Sciences at Case Western Reserve University will study what drives the dying to live long enough to resolve unfinished business, with a National Institute of Nursing Research grant. The researchers aim to relieve psychological distress by marshaling the patient's inner strengths, such as resilient feelings of hope and optimism, and their social connections. Healthy people who marshal these inner resources develop improved psychological outlooks, and the team hopes to learn if it will benefit the severely ill. The researchers will collaborate with healthcare workers from the Hospice of the Western Reserve. http://fpb.case.edu/Centers/BEST/

CMS awards contract to the New York QIO The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services awarded a contract to IPRO, the Quality Improvement Organization in New York, to complete the CMS Hospice AIM (Assessment, Intervention, and Measurement) Project, designed to promote effective links between hospice and other providers, using a uniform data collection system. One of the goals is to identify the reasons that disparities exist in hospice care. Seven hospices will participate in the program. They are in the midst of site training, with data collection set to begin before year end. They will report the outcomes for the 12 quality measures in 2013. http://www.compliancereviewservices.com/news-special-bulletins.asp#hospice

About one-third of hospital deaths could have occurred at home A British study analyzing case notes from 599 patients out of 627 people who died at one hospital from June 2006 through May 2007 found a maximum of one third of the patients could have received care at home if excellent end-of-life services were in place. More than half of the patients, 56% or 331 people, had not been assessed or considered to be in their last year of life. Of the remainder, 152 or 26% were clearly near death and 110, 18%, had significant co-morbidities that could contribute to their dying within a year. Among the 77 patients admitted from a nursing home, the researchers concluded that 69% could have stayed at the facility to die. http://pmj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/23/7/616?etoc

HPNA releases opioid conversion calculations book The Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association has released Demystifying Opioid Conversion Calculations: A Guide for Effective Dosing. The practical book is written in an informal tone with an element of humor. It includes easy-to-follow case studies, charts, graphs, and real-world practice examples of conversions. The 200-page book offers a five-step process for teaching clinicians about conversions and is recommended for health professionals working in hospice and palliative care and pain management. http://www.hpna.org/Item_Details.aspx?ItemNo=978-1-58528-198-5

UNTHSC Palliative Medicine Fellowship program The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth offers a community-based palliative medicine fellowship program. The three full-time fellowships provide advanced and concentrated training in osteopathic end-of-life care, in an interdisciplinary setting with clinical and didactic experiences. Core areas include symptom management, ethics, pastoral care, bereavement care, advance directive planning, and research in end-of-life care. Osteopathic principles and manipulative techniques are important aspects of the program. http://texasopti.hsc.unt.edu/TCOM...   http://opportunities.osteopathic.org/search/search...

FHSSA calls universal access to care a basic human right The Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa (FHSSA) issued a statement stating that it believes that compassion has no borders and every individual deserves the right to face life-threatening illness with dignity and respect. FHSSA said that hospice and palliative care provide necessary support to patients and families dealing with HIV/AIDS. Those patients receiving hospice care benefit from symptom management. More than 250,000 families and individuals received care from African hospice organizations in 2008. http://www.fhssa.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageID=3420

Volunteer creates portraits as keepsakes A volunteer at the Hospice and Palliative Care of Westchester in White Plains, N.Y., has developed the Portraits of Love program. Teresa Kiso paints a watercolor portrait of hospice patients, so that their families will have a lasting keepsake. The artist works from a photograph of the patient and creates a framed portrait suitable for hanging on the wall. She includes a personal note in the package about the experience of painting the portrait. Kiso also has designed floral watercolor cards for the hospice to send to families of patients who have died. http://www.lohud.com/article/20091122/NEWS02/911220305/...

Oregon hospice pays $1.83 million to settle false claims act liability Kaiser Foundation Hospitals - Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest and Northwest Permanente P.C., Physicians & Surgeons (collectively referred to as Kaiser NW) agreed to pay the United States $1.83 million to settle False Claims Act liability. The government contends that Kaiser NW billed Medicare between 2000 and 2004 for hospice services that had been provided by the Kaiser Northwest Region Hospice without obtaining written certifications of terminal illness required under the federal health care program. The hospice acknowledged in a report to the Department of Health and Human Service's Office of Inspector General that between October 2000 and March 2004, there were instances in which Kaiser NW did not obtain written certifications of terminal illness for hospice beneficiaries prior to billing Medicare. http://www.justice.gov/usao/or/PressReleases/2009/20091112_Kaiser.html

People on the Move Frederic L. Jackson, DO, MPH, FAAFP, formerly Area Medical Director for Vista Care in Athens, Georgia, is now Regional Medical Director for The Elizabeth Hospice, Escondido, California. He has also attained a CAQ in Hospice and Palliative medicine through the American Board of Family Medicine...Elizabeth White, MD, has been hired by VNA Home Health and Hospice as medical director of palliative care and hospice programs at Mercy Hospital and VNA Home Health and Hospice, Portland, Maine...Cassandra Hirsh, DO, has joined the Haslinger Family Pediatric Palliative Care Center at Akron Children's Hospital in Ohio... Bonnie Waugh, RN, has recently joined Covenant Hospice in Tallahassee as a hospital liaison...Camille Lambe, a nurse practitioner at Horizons Palliative Care in Wake County, North Carolina, earned the Advanced Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurses certification from the National Board for Certification of Hospice and Palliative Nurses...Coastal Family Hospice Volunteers, the volunteer arm of Kno-Wal-Lin Home Care and Hospice in Maine, has elected five new board members: Eliza Bailey, Dave Gordon, Barbara Grossbaum, Diane Schetky and Lucy Williams...Please send your People on the Move news to: Briefings@liebertpub.com