06.22.2015
Clinical Alerts
06.22.2015
Advance directive services begin in a Wisconsin town and may spread nationally
Ninety-six percent of all adult residents of La Crosse, Wisconsin have completed an advance directive. One local physician, concerned about the uncertainty of a patients’...
06.22.2015
Managing end-of-life medications at home – accounts of bereaved family caregivers in the UK
The role of caregivers in the quality of end-of-life care at home is increasingly important. Literature reporting perspectives of caregivers in managing medications at home...
06.05.2015
Opioid-induced Constipation: Two new palliative care Fast Facts are now available!
The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) is a national organization dedicated to increasing the availability of quality palliative care services for people facing serious...
06.05.2015
Changes in Medicare Costs with the Growth of Hospice Care
Use of hospice services amongst nursing home residents significantly increased between 2004 and 2009 providing an opportunity to examine changes in Medicare expenditures in the...
05.04.2015
Choosing Wisely: Ten Things Physicians and Patients Should Question
Weighing risks vs. benefits when caring for the aging population is of utmost concern in hospice care. The “Choosing Wisely” guidelines developed in 2012 by...
05.04.2015
Medicare Focused on “Getting the Payment Right” for Medications in Hospice
Medicare continues to focus on payment for medications in hospice and for “getting the payment right”. In this recently published USA TODAY article, Medicare officials discuss...
04.15.2015
Evidence-based deprescribing of statins in patients with advance illness
An accompanying article to the Kutner study highlighted the increasing focus placed on diminishing benefits and, in some cases, harms when used in patients with...
04.15.2015
Safety and benefit of discontinuing statin therapy
Statins are examples of medications in which risks outweigh benefits for patients with limited prognosis. Jean Kutner and colleagues recently published in JAMA the results...