tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76553342012-02-16T17:42:25.244-08:00Fighting for quality hospice care for everyone that needs it today or someday in the future.Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.comBlogger294125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-58912338368983277802009-08-11T17:19:00.000-07:002009-08-11T18:12:58.480-07:00

I have tried to remain silent on the blog about the health care debate in our country. I have very strong political opinions and do not feel that this blog is the place to have political debate. This is a blog about hospice, and the last thing I want to do is turn people away from hospice because they disagree with me politically. I don't think what I'm about to say is really a political

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-8289994665375482572009-07-21T18:49:00.000-07:002009-07-21T19:17:47.450-07:00

I just wanted to put up a quick post thanking those of you who have emailed checking in on me since I have gone so long without posting anything new on the blog. I didn't plan on taking a break from the blog, it has just happened. My time and energy have been needed in other areas of my life. I do miss writing, and hope to be back in the swing of things soon. Thanks for checking in on me, it

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-77025841074881544552009-03-04T10:57:00.000-08:002009-03-04T10:59:30.960-08:00

Palliative Care Grand Rounds has been posted by Dethmama. Check it out and enjoy all the great reading from a wide range of blogs writing about palliative care.

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-43143095641249682452009-02-24T07:52:00.001-08:002009-02-24T07:52:48.161-08:00

I'm way behind in updating the blog, so I'm going to point you to this article about the hospice provision in the recently passed and signed Obama Stimulus Bill. It probably has more information than I would have given anyway.

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-15959593367579958942009-02-17T09:31:00.001-08:002009-02-17T09:31:11.329-08:00

I received this comment/question to a prior post about Continuous Home Care, and thought I would push it to the top of the blog to see what reactions others may have.OK, here's my question. I was TOLD by a hospice here in Illinois (trying to get my business), that because my father was w/i 2 weeks of dying (we ended dialysis), they would provide two 12 hour shifts of continuous care (one CNA in

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-55614365132202475982009-02-13T10:21:00.001-08:002009-02-13T10:21:59.886-08:00

I am regretfully late in pointing out that a Grand Rounds for Palliative Care blogs has been started. Check out the first round up over at pallimed!(For those who are not familiar with Grand Rounds, it is a roundup of the best of the blog posts on a given topic. Palliative Care Grand Rounds will be published monthly and is hosted by a different blogger each time. The host reviews submissions

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-42151485823411775912009-01-29T08:39:00.001-08:002009-01-29T08:39:14.809-08:00

Found this Associated Press article in the San Jose Mercury News. I'm assuming you could find it in many newspapers across the nation.The story was written before the house passed their version of the "Stimulus Package". Since then the bill has passed, and it is my understanding that the one year delay on the rate cut was a part of the bill they passed. I'll stay away from politics here and

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-60031844617342277552009-01-23T09:40:00.001-08:002009-01-23T09:40:52.921-08:00

There is a very through article at Health Beat Blog discussing the great debate between for profit and non-profit hospices. I disagree with the underlying opinions, but they have done their research and put a lot of information into the article. It is a good read for anyone involved in this debate.You can read the post here.As I said, I don't totally agree with their conclusion that for-profit

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-29032153855570181852008-12-28T11:59:00.000-08:002008-12-28T12:11:25.207-08:00

I've been going over my checklists for compliance for my hospice's implementation of the new Medicare Hospice Conditions of Participation for the thousandth time, and was wondering how many hospices across the nation are not 100% compliant at this point.The new COPs went into effect on December 2nd, and my hospice was not ready. We're nearing a month later, and my hospice is still not 100%

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-75381960933748574432008-12-05T06:35:00.000-08:002008-12-05T06:35:00.644-08:00

Thanks to the brains at Pallimed for pointing out that the Journal of Palliative Medicine is free online through the end of the year. You can check out every edition ever published, so jump in, dig in, and learn all you can over the next few weeks.

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-61767979600824172412008-12-02T06:23:00.000-08:002008-12-02T06:23:00.829-08:00

The lawsuit filed against Medicare by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization has been dismissed. As I understand it, the case was dismissed without any comment on the actual claims of the case, because the judge felt like hospice providers should appeal Medicare's decision directly (through an internal Medicare appeals process) before the lawsuit should be considered. You can

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-40809374806162867022008-11-26T01:00:00.000-08:002008-11-26T01:00:00.811-08:00

Here's wishing each of you a wonderful Thanksgiving. Before you head off to dinner with the family, there is a project I would like to draw some attention to. The following is a post that you will find on a handful of blogs this weekend. Please read on and think about what you can do to help your family prepare for their end of life journey. God bless.We make choices throughout our lives -

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-42194651450096587262008-11-11T10:01:00.001-08:002008-11-11T10:01:30.037-08:00

I concluded a post recently by saying that the big corporate hospices had won another battle, and that it was going to be even harder for the small guy to make it. Guess, I may have overestimated the health of the big hospices. Trinity Hospice, which is a subsidiary of Sunrise Senior Living (NYSE: SRZ), is shutting it's doors. Here is the "announcement" within their most recent financial

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-41475949220425540232008-11-05T07:18:00.000-08:002008-11-05T07:18:00.772-08:00

NHPCO has published its latest statistical compilation on hospice care in America. It is the 2007 numbers on hospice care and covers a lot of information. Good stuff to know when looking at the industry as a whole. (I think it's a free link, but if not, it's just another reason you may want to consider membership.)Palmetto GBA, one of the handful of Medicare Intermediaries that work with hospices

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-69530708719188469522008-11-03T06:44:00.001-08:002008-11-03T06:44:37.619-08:00

Medicare has released its next round of billing changes, and this one won't be fun. (The last one wasn't fun either, but that's beside the point.) You can find the information here. (Click on the zip file to read the .pdf explanation of the proposed changes.) Clearly, there will be more on this as comments are made and the final rule is posted, but here is my quick gut take.The biggest change

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-2837115014863268822008-10-27T09:32:00.000-07:002008-10-27T09:32:00.663-07:00

I gave an impromptu lesson in government in my recent update on the Medicare Hospice Rate Cuts post, and figured I should extend that to what is going on with the Medicare Hospice Cap issue.In the prior post, I discussed the fact that congressional fights are much easier won when your side can claim victory through congressional inaction. Doing nothing is a strong suit of our folks in Washington.

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-68647243239764597322008-10-20T06:53:00.000-07:002008-10-20T06:53:00.868-07:00

I guess I may have left some of you hanging on the subject of the Medicare Hospice rate cut. Sorry about that, I haven't updated, because there hasn't been any motion.One of the big lessons I picked up along this adventure is that Congress' strength is inaction. Whoever is on the side of inaction usually wins when it comes to our government. In this instance, the rate cut was sent down from on

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-9121277560539333262008-10-17T06:38:00.000-07:002008-10-17T06:52:52.468-07:00

There is an interesting article on MSNBC.com about long time married couples dying within a few months of each other. It gives research evidence that the phenomena does exits and a mixture of medical and psychological factors that may explain the phenomena. If nothing else, reading it may just tug at your heart.As someone who has seen their share of hospice patients, I sure can't deny that it

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-52730905429804121592008-09-15T08:56:00.001-07:002008-09-16T08:11:51.953-07:00

Bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate to stop the Medicare hospice rate cuts. Follow the link to find out the history of the rate cuts, who sponsored the bills, what the bill actually does, and (most importantly) what you NEED to do to support this legislation. Time is very short to make this happen!

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-88661857554938590212008-09-08T09:58:00.001-07:002008-09-08T09:59:43.893-07:00

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization is suing Medicare to stop the rate increase.Guess that will silence all the people who have complained over the years that NHPCO wasn't aggressive enough. Personally, I'm not sure that they haven't been too aggressive in this instance, but I don't really know enough about the inner working of the process or the lawsuit to know for sure. I hope

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-85723960141474395082008-09-04T09:09:00.000-07:002008-09-04T09:09:00.628-07:00

I was recently introduced to a blog written by a full-time hospice on-call nurse, and wanted to point you to one of her stories. I spend most of my time talking about the business of hospice, but we should never forget how hard hospice is. Everyone understands that we work with death and dying everyday, but what many don't remember is the fact that we work with families who are under great stress

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-17024033678852627992008-09-01T07:13:00.000-07:002008-09-02T14:58:32.163-07:00

In my last post I said, "It is not an overstatement to say that we are reaching the goal of changing the way our nation views and faces the end of life." Now, I have proof.The Beloit College Mindset List, which is "a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college", has provided me with my proof. I found the list very interesting since it is full of pearls of

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-38531484883350353662008-08-27T09:59:00.000-07:002008-08-27T09:59:00.501-07:00

I have been writing lately about the changes our industry is going to have to deal with in the future, and what needs to happen now. In this post, I want to deal with the scary future of hospice if these changes are not made. Currently, hospice as a business is at a crossroads. Where it will end up is anybody's guess. My guess (or prayer) is that we end up being what hospice was created to be. We

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-42045919822981113682008-08-21T09:07:00.000-07:002008-08-21T10:08:35.553-07:00

I have no clue who first said, "The main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing", but I owe them a debt of gratitude. That odd little line has helped keep me focused through the years, and it is very timely advice for the hospice industry. My last couple of posts have dealt with the necessity of hospices moving from the relaxed business practices of the past to the world of having very

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655334.post-2801755535698780872008-08-15T13:16:00.000-07:002008-08-15T13:16:00.638-07:00

As I mentioned earlier, I believe there has been a real resistance within the hospice community to accept the fact that hospice is a business and that we need to adopt best business practices. In my mind, Andrew Reed of Multi View Incorporated has been the industry's John the Baptist as he has been carrying this message through the wilderness for years. He has been preaching financial

Hospice Guynoreply@blogger.com1