Text alerts help doctors to spot sepsis in time

A text message alert system could reduce deaths from sepsis afte trial at one hospital led to a sevenfold increase in the number of patients getting drugs in time.

Staff recorded a patient’s temperature, pulse, blood pressure and consciousness on a handheld device and if a pattern suggested that the patient might have sepsis, which can be fatal, their doctor or nurse was sent a text.

Sepsis deaths nearly triple in five years

SEPSIS deaths have risen by over a third in the last two years, with 15,722 deaths in hospitals recorded with sepsis as the leading cause nationally.

New Guideline for Minimally Conscious, Vegetative States Released

Three specialty societies have published a new practice guideline for managing prolonged disorders of consciousness (DoC), focusing on accurate diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment.

The guidelines, issued by the American Academy of Neurology, the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM), and the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, updates the earlier 1994 AAN practice parameter on persistent vegetative state and the 2002 case definition for the minimally conscious state (MCS).

Hospital Compare lifts the veil on sepsis care. Check your hospital’s score

Hospital Compare lifts the veil on sepsis care. Check your hospital’s score

More than a decade ago, a young man showed up in the emergency department of the hospital where I worked in St. Paul, Minnesota. He had been on a hunting trip with friends when he started to behave strangely and complained of a sore throat. As his symptoms worsened and he became confused, his friends sensed something was wrong and rushed him from the woods to the hospital.

At first, it wasn’t clear if his high fever and symptoms were tied to a terrible case of strep throat or to something worse. But as his heart rate sped up and he became increasingly confused, eventually losing consciousness and the ability to breathe, we knew it was sepsis.

Medicare's most despicable, indefensible fraud hotspot: Hospice care

• The number of hospices in the US increased by 43 percent between 2006 and 2016, but with the boom in end-of-life services, Medicare fraud also has risen.
• Medicare fraud and inaccurate billing costs the federal government health care program as much as $60 billion annually.
• The amount of Medicare beneficiaries receiving hospice care increased by about 53 percent between 2006 and 2016, with 1.4 million Medicare beneficiaries receiving hospice care in 2016. Spending increased by 81 percent to a level of $16.7 billion in 2016, according to a new report from the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services.

CMS Updates Payment Policies for Medicare Hospice Providers

Two days after a critical report into the quality and care of hospices caring for Medicare beneficiaries, CMS released a final payment rule for 2019, giving providers an increase of $340 million, and said it will update the information on its Hospice Compare website. The increase is a 1.8% rise from 2018.

Giving Hospice MORE Money even after a critical report into the ROTTEN quality of care and FRAUD!!!! How stupid!!!!

Vulnerabilities in the Medicare Hospice Program Affect Quality Care and Program Integrity: An OIG Portfolio

U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesOffice of Inspector GeneralVulnerabilities in theMedicare Hospice ProgramAffect Quality Care andProgram Integrity:An OIG Portfolio
What OIG Found 
Hospice care can provide great comfort to beneficiaries, families, and caregivers at the end of a beneficiary’s life. Use of hospice care has grown steadily over the past decade, with Medicare paying $16.7 billion for this care in 2016. It is an increasingly important benefit for the Medicare population; 1.4 million beneficiaries received hospice care in 2016. However, OIG has identified vulnerabilities in the program. OIG found that hospices do not always provide needed services to beneficiaries and sometimes provide poor quality care. In some cases, hospices were not able to manage effectively symptoms or medications, leaving beneficiaries in unnecessary pain for many days.
OIG also found that beneficiaries and their families and caregivers do not receive crucial information to make informed decisions about their care. Further, hospices’ inappropriate billing costs Medicare hundreds of millions of dollars. This includes billing for an expensive level of care when the beneficiary does not need it. Also, a number of fraud schemes in hospice care negatively affect beneficiaries and the program. Some fraud schemes involve enrolling beneficiaries who are not eligible for hospice care, while other schemes involve billing for services never provided.