To improve quality, whom we measure is as important as what. by Joe Rotella, MD, MBA, FAAHPM The growing awareness in America that our healthcare system is unaffordable and fails to deliver consistent quality has led us to healthcare reform, mandatory quality reporting, pay-for-performance, and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). We need good measures of quality … Read moreThe Devil Is in the Denominator
The Journal of Pain and Symptom Management is pleased to announce a call for papers that report the results of Quality Improvement initiatives in palliative care. This publication of brief reports is a joint project of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. Papers focusing on … Read moreJPSM Call for QI Papers Closes April 15
I have always yearned for a Medicare Benefit for palliative care services, so it was with some excitement that I read an e-mail from MedPAC inviting me to a meeting in Washington March 23, to discuss palliative care. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is an independent Congressional agency established by the Balanced Budget Act … Read moreMedPAC meeting in Washington on Palliative Care
Nausea and vomiting is a drag! Hope no one is feeling queasy since this talk is all about N/V. Dr. Eric Prommer is very knowledgeable about serotonin and the serotonin antagonist like ondansetron . Interestingly, serotonin, which is constantly being produced, can overcome the antagonist and this is why these medications may lose effectiveness. At … Read moreSerotonin Antagonist: Should They Be Used in Palliative Medicine? (327)
Four Seasons Hospice has taken the plunge and begun to participate in the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) of Medicare. Since fall 2010, we have successfully been submitting data on three PQRI measures: #47 (Advance Care Plan), #154 (Falls risk assessment), and #155 (Falls plan of care). Our palliative care program extends across the inpatient … Read moreDiving into the Alphabet Soup of PQRI
JPSM has announced a new call for brief reports explaining the results of quality improvement initiatives in palliative care. JPSM associate editor David Casarett and members of the AAHPM Quality Task Force were puzzled by the dearth of good information about what quality improvement innovations programs are finding successful. They realized that there aren’t many … Read moreInnovations in quality improvement: help spread the word!
Many health care initiatives launched by the Affordable Care Act focus on improving the quality of health care. The Academy and its members have been participating in these efforts, trying to bring wider visibility to the role that palliative care and hospice care can play in improving the quality of health care for patients with serious, advanced illness.
We spend a lot of time speaking of physician, nursing, social work, pharmacist expertise in palliative care. We often see and support formal training for volunteers. (www.volunteertrainingonline.com/hospice; www.hospicevolunteertraining.webs.com) We teach the importance of culturally competent care and use of interpreter services to enhance communication with patients and families of other cultures and with limited English. … Read moreQuality and competency: Invisible members of the palliative care team, the Medical Interpreter
The National Quality Forum (NQF) is planning to issue a call for measures relevant to hospice and palliative care some time late in 2010, probably November. This is a critical opportunity to advance quality measurement for our field.