Archives: March 2009

Tips to Prevent Elder Financial Abuse

The Met Life Mature Market Institute study Broken Trust: Elders, Family and Finances takes a close look at elder financial abuse. Elder financial abuse is more prevalent than you think and the perpetrators are often family members. Today we look at tips Met Life offers to prevent elder abuse. Stay...

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Elder Financial Abuse Prevalent and Family is Partly to Blame

The Met Life Mature Market Institute study Broken Trust: Elders, Family and Finances takes a close look at elder financial abuse. Elder financial abuse is more prevalent than you think and the perpetrators are often family members. Today we will look at the warning signs Met Life offers to indicate...

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The Deloitte 2009 Survey of Health Care Consumers

The Deloitte 2009 Survey of Health Care Consumers is worth a read. While they tout consumerism, my take is that it is superficial a best. For example just 15% of people compare hospital data for inpatient care. Those who do seek quality data do so from physicians, web sites, friends...

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Mentally Ill More Prevalent in Nursing Homes

According to a new article by the Associated Press the mentally ill are becoming more prevalent in the nursing home population. Younger, stronger residents with schizophrenia, depression or bipolar disorder are living beside frail senior citizens, and sometimes taking their rage out on them. Numbers obtained through the Freedom of...

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Nursing Home Background Checks Legislation Re-Introduced

Sens. Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have reintroduced a bill to establish a nationwide system of background checks to prevent people with criminal histories from working in long-term care settings. The bill, the Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act, expands on a three-year pilot program that helped to...

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Lack of Primary Care Physicians Will Continue

Last week was Match Day, when graduating medical students found out where they‰Ûªll be doing their training. Just over 42% of the family medicine residency slots went to seniors receiving their M.D.s from U.S. med schools. Forty nine percent of the slots went to foreign medical school graduates and others....

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End of Life Care Less Costly When Physicians Communicate

In a follow up to yesterday‰Ûªs guest post about end of life care and the engagement of health care providers comes this. The March 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine reports that patients with advanced cancer who discuss end-of-life care with their physicians appear to have lower health care...

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Be Observant of Observational Care or Face Medicare Non-Payment

There is a new category of patients that private insurers and Medicare are using called “observation” patients. Typical patients for observational care include those with chest pain, asthma attacks, kidney stones, dehydration, dizziness and mild trauma. These patients are a step up from an emergency department patient but not classified...

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