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Cancer news coverage should also focus on hospice and end-of-life care

Newspaper and magazine reports about cancer appear more likely to discuss aggressive treatment and survival than death, treatment failure or adverse events, and almost none mention end-of-life palliative or hospice care, according to a report in the March 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

17 Mar 2010

Racial disparities persist in hospice use

Even as medical caregivers try to change practices, racial disparities in hospice care continue, according to a study in the March 8 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

10 Mar 2010

Price for skilled nursing facilities increases in 2009

After dropping 17% in 2008 from an all-time high set in 2007, the average price paid per bed for skilled nursing facilities increased slightly in 2009, according to a new report on the seniors housing and care M&A market to be published by Irving Levin Associates, Inc., a research and publishing firm that tracks mergers and acquisitions in the seniors housing and health care markets.

9 Mar 2010

Black and Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure less likely to receive hospice care

Black and Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure appear less likely to receive hospice care than white patients with the same condition, according to a report in the March 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

9 Mar 2010

Gentiva Health Services acquires Heart to Heart Hospice

Gentiva Health Services, Inc., a leading provider of home health and hospice services, announced today that it has acquired Mississippi-based Heart to Heart Hospice.

8 Mar 2010

Bunny's last days: When living will isn't enough

In this Kaiser Health News story, part of a special series on end-of-life care, reporter Susan Brink details certain circumstances related to end-of-life care and living wills.

5 Mar 2010

Patients admitted to hospice care are rarely having their ICDs deactivated

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that patients admitted to hospice care who have an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) are rarely having their ICDs deactivated and are receiving electrical shocks from these devices near the end of life. This first-of-its-kind study of hospice patients with ICDs is published in the March 2, 2010 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

2 Mar 2010

Colorado city a model for low-cost, high quality care, series details

Colorado Public News/Los Angeles Times presents a series of stories about Grand Junction Colorado which delivers some of the best and lowest-cost health care in the nation.

26 Feb 2010

Cancer pain patients: European regulations restricting access to opioid-based drugs

Many cancer patients in Europe are being denied access to adequate pain relief because of over-zealous regulations restricting the availability and accessibility of opioid-based drugs such as morphine.

22 Feb 2010

Petzel takes oath to lead nation's largest integrated health care system

Dr. Robert A. Petzel has taken the oath of office as the Under Secretary for Health within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), stepping up to lead the nation's largest integrated health care system.

19 Feb 2010

KHN column: Why are fewer patients enrolling in hospice

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Howard Gleckman writes: "Suddenly, many hospices are admitting fewer patients. Others are increasingly caring for people for just days or hours before they die.

19 Feb 2010

Standard checklist for home palliative sedation

Can patients near death safely receive sedation at home, fully respecting their own and their families' wishes? This practice, which is on the rise, is coming under increasing scrutiny and debate by palliative care researchers and practitioners.

19 Feb 2010

A selection of today's opinions and editorials

The epic of health care evolution is complex and is worth reviewing over the last five decades. Having practiced medicine in the same community in Southeast Missouri for more than 30 years, I have seen changes in health care beyond the scope of imagination (Dr. S.D. Madduri, 2/18).

18 Feb 2010

Gentiva Health Services announces fourth-quarter and fiscal year 2009 results

Gentiva Health Services, Inc., a leading provider of home health and hospice services, today reported fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2009 results.

18 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 18, 2010

Today's headlines focus on continuing hopes for health reform as well as various health industry developments.

18 Feb 2010

Home palliative care: A major strategy to improve end-of-life care in UK NHS

Time and again, in every part of the world, surveys show that people with life-threatening illness want to spend as much of the time that is left at home, rather than in hospital. They aspire to die in their own surroundings, peacefully and pain free. Increasingly, clinicians, managers and commissioners of health services are recognising this and building services to meet it. In the UK NHS, it has become part of a major strategy to improve end-of-life care.

18 Feb 2010

The Ensign Group announces record $542.0M total revenue for full-year 2009

The Ensign Group, Inc., the parent company of the Ensign™ group of skilled nursing, rehabilitative care services, hospice care and assisted living companies, today reported record results for the fourth quarter and full year 2009.

18 Feb 2010

Chemed announces financial results for fourth-quarter ended December 31, 2009

Chemed Corporation, which operates VITAS Healthcare Corporation, the nation’s largest provider of end-of-life care, and Roto-Rooter, the nation’s largest commercial and residential plumbing and drain cleaning services provider, reported financial results for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2009, versus the comparable prior-year period

15 Feb 2010

Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mich., Arizona plan Medicaid cuts; N.C.'s prison health costs

The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune: Louisiana "Gov. Bobby Jindal will present his 2010-11 budget request Friday, which is expected to call for cuts to health care, education and other areas of state government as his administration outlines plans for plugging a $1 billion shortfall. ... The general-fund growth is not nearly enough to offset a loss of about $650 million in federal health-care financing, the rising cost of state pensions, automatic pay raises for state workers and inflation in health-care programs."

15 Feb 2010

Traditional Home Health and Hospice selects ExpressMD's Electronic House Call system for CHF program

ExpressMD™ Solutions, a provider of remote patient monitoring systems and services for patients with chronic illnesses, announced today that Traditional Home Health and Hospice in Dunmore, PA selected ExpressMD's Electronic House Call™ system for use in their Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) patient management program.

12 Feb 2010