Hospice- Determining Terminal Status; Coverage Indications, Limitations, And/Or Medical Necessity
Medicare coverage of hospice depends on a physician’s certification that an individual’s prognosis is a life expectancy of six months or less if the terminal illness runs its normal course. This LCD describes guidelines to be used by National Government Services (NGS) in reviewing hospice claims and by hospice providers to determine eligibility of beneficiaries for hospice benefits. Although guidelines applicable to certain disease categories are included, this LCD is applicable to all hospice patients.
Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services On Hospice Coverage, Levels Of Care, Coinsurance, And Hospital Quality And Reporting Program
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) offers information to patients and families about medicare and medicaid hospice benefits. General information, types of hospice care and insurance coverage options can be found here. CMS also offers downloadable resources on their website available in Spanish.
Addressing the Spiritual Care Needs of Patients with Serious Illness
Spiritual care contributes to the well-being of patients and the people who matter to them, by addressing spiritual and existential pain. Though not all patients are affiliated with formal religious structures and systems, many still struggle with questions about miracles, spiritual etiologies of disease, and how to make meaning out of suffering.
Chaplains provide expert interventions to explore these areas and bring meaning and healing - for patients, for the people who matter to them, and for the palliative care team.
Achieving Health Equity
Certain populations suffer disproportionately in the face of serious illness, whether because of race, geography, income, sexual orientation, gender identity, culture, trauma history, or any of the myriad factors that impact patient care and patient experience. Health professionals have a unique opportunity to lead in achieving health equity by establishing trust and alleviating suffering for traditionally oppressed or excluded patients.
Serious Illness And Palliative Care From The Better Care Playbook
Adults with serious illness have one or more conditions, such as cancer or dementia, that cause health and functional decline and, over time, eventually lead to death. People with serious illness require effective patient-clinician communication about quality of life, goals of care, and advance directives, along with access to palliative and hospice care that is well coordinated with medical care, behavioral health, and personal care needs.
Grief & Contemporary Grief Theories
Although research subjects have not traditionally included autistic adults, understanding current grief theory can be helpful to any professional working with any grieving individual. Perhaps most importantly, professionals should absolve themselves of the notion that grief occurs in stages. This theory was developed in the 1960s by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a pioneer in the field of death and dying. She based her work exclusively on observations of people with terminal illness who were grieving the pending loss of their own lives.
Association for Pet Loss Bereavement Support Resources
Association for Pet Loss Bereavement Support Resources provides a wide variety of resources on coping with pet loss, including reading resources for caregivers, veterinary support group opportunities, and training modules.
Serious Illness Conversation Guide
This is a guide designed for healthcare workers to develop effective communication with a diverse patient population facing serious illness. This guide also provides tips on sharing assessment of illness, sharing prognosis, patient goals and values, and how to start and end conversations with patients around issues related to serious illness.
The Bright Ideas TBI Camp: fostering innovation in interprofessional education and collaborative practice for traumatic brain injury by students in rehabilitation professions
This report describes an innovative interprofessional education collaborative practice (IPCP) experience for rehabilitation professions students using a unique on-campus camp model through a community-academic partnership. Throughout the three-day camp, known as the Bright Ideas TBI Camp, interprofessional student groups deliver tailored health and wellness services to individuals with disabilities due to traumatic brain injury and their caregivers.
Interprofessional Faculty Development Cohort IX- A Microcredential
Description: The purpose of Interprofessional Practice Education (IPE) is to prepare health profession students for interprofessional practice by teaching collaborative practice competencies within the context of interprofessional teams. All health professions now require the integration of IPE into their curricula. Faculty and preceptors must be prepared to integrate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for effective collaborative practice into the curricula of both the pre-clinical and clinical years of training.