Keeping hospice moving

Hospice U.S.A

Unusual Microorganisms, edited by Edward J. Bottone, is a slender book, 126 pages, divided into six chapters, each of which treats a particular species of human pathogen. The book covers infections caused by six microbes: Eikenella corrodens, Capnocytophaga, Cardiobacterium hominis, Gardnerella vaginalis, Pasteurella multocida, and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans. These microbes are infreq...

Selling hospice.

Americans are increasingly turning to hospice services to provide them with medical care, pain management, and emotional support at the end of life. The increase in the rates of hospice utilization is explained by a number of factors including a "hospice movement" dating to the 1970s which emphasized hospice as a tool to promote dignity for the terminally ill; coverage of hospice services by Me...

Hospice care.

Measuring hospice care: the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization National Hospice Data Set.

Hospice has seen rapid growth in recent years, but there is a lack of consistency among hospices when it comes to compliance with standards of care. Consequently, hospices vary in performance and in services they provide. With state hospice organizations, the NHPCO developed a National Data Set (NDS) intended to understand demographics, practices, and outcomes; illustrate industry effectiveness...

Medicare cost in matched hospice and non-hospice cohorts.

Hospice care is perceived as enhancing life quality for patients with advanced, incurable illness, but cost comparisons to non-hospice patients are difficult to make. The very large Medicare expenditures for care given during the end of life, combined with the pressure on Medicare spending, make this information important. We sought to identify cost differences between patients who do and do no...