CMS changes rules for hospice physicians

Anne Zieger — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:30:23 -0400

For the first time in 24 years, Medicare has updated the rules covering hospice physicians. The new CMS rules, which lay out conditions for participation, will take effect on December 2. Medicare updated the rules because hospice is becoming an increasingly popular option, with nearly 1 million Medicare beneficiaries choosing hospice services from more than 3,000 hospitals in the U.S.

Changes include updates to patient rights rules, including regs allowing patients who choose palliative care over curative treatments to help develop their own treatment plans. Such planning includes access to pain meds, ability to choose their own physician and the option to refuse treatment. The same rules will require that hospices develop quality-assessment and performance-improvement programs, involving physicians in the development of these programs.

In the future, hospice advocates hope Medicare goes further and raises reimbursements for more complex patients, because more of them could receive services through hospices rather than in a hospital. They're also hoping Medicare raises payments for some costly cancer drugs that provide a palliative benefit to patients; right now hospices can't afford to provide them.

To learn more about Medicare's plans:
- read this AMNews piece

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MN hospital cited after disturbed ED patient gets Tasered

Anne Zieger — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:55:50 -0400

When the staff at Northfield (MN) City Hospital's emergency believed that a disturbed patient was about to become violent, they called the local police, as their facility didn't have the security staff to deal with the situation. When the patient remained threatening, the police Tasered the man, after which hospital staffers were able to medicate the man and transfer him to a psych unit at a different facility. Now, federal and state health officials have cited the hospital for violating the patient's rights. The Minnesota Department of Health says the hospital failed to protect the patient safety, a charge that theoretically could cause it to lose its CMS certification unless it is addressed.

The Minnesota Hospital Association and other industry observers say that Northfield did nothing wrong. However, regulators say that the hospital should have been better prepared to deal with the man even before the police arrived, given that they see drugged and psychiatrically-disturbed patients every day. What's more, hospital staffers shouldn't have let the situation escalate for five hours, between the patient's arrival at 2 a.m. and the arrival of the police at 7 a.m., reviewers said.

To learn more about this incident:
- read this Minneapolis Star-Tribune article

Patient Rights

CMS changes rules for hospice physicians

MN hospital cited after disturbed ED patient gets Tasered