In The News

Terminal Restlessness Is Part of the Way We Die

Terminal restlessness is a medical term for agitation as end of life approaches. It usually begins one to three weeks before death from disease or old age.

The restlessness shows itself by random body movements, hands picking the air or clothing, mumbling, talking but not making sense, by just not being settled and quiet. The person is now beyond expressing with words. There are few if any rational conversations.

This restlessness can be a lack of oxygen to the brain but more likely it is just part of the natural way we die.

We are all going to be afraid to some degree as we approach death. This is normal and natural. Also we know when we are dying. It is no secret. We live inside of our bodies--we know.

In the months before death from disease we don’t believe we can’t be fixed but there comes a point where we indeed know the time is near (one or three weeks before we actually die from disease is about that timetable). Can the restlessness being experienced be an expression of fear? Maybe?

Realizing in the core of our being that we are going to die we become frightened and that fear shows itself in agitation. “If I lay down and close my eyes I may die” so we don’t lay still, we move about.

Most of the time this restlessness, this agitation is not destructive. It is not severe.

Again this activity is normal and natural. It is a part of the dying process from disease or old age. Nothing bad or unusual is happening. The restlessness is just a part of the way we die.

This activity is actually one of the signs we look for that says the “labor of dying” has begun. It is that normal.

 

Introducing Hispanic Chaplaincy Program: Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)

Reach the underserved hispanic community with the first of its kind Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) for Latino chaplains that serve in hospices, home health and hospitals.

We are the only professional Chaplain organization in the USA to clinically train and certify Spanish-speaking healthcare Chaplains. We offer:

  • Online Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) for existing and aspiring Chaplains
  • National Board Certification credentialing
  • Continuing Education in both English and Spanish

See Attached Flier

To Learn More Contact:

Chaplain Mark Allison, President, WSHO
[email protected]
801-870-0315
www.wshochaplaincy.org

 

AXXESS Home Health: Strategic Analysis and Provider Guidance: CMS CY2024 Proposed Cuts to Home Health

Thursday, August 3 (1:00 PM MT)

Axxess thought leaders and industry experts are offering care at home organizations a high-level legal, financial and clinical analysis of the major provisions in the CMS Home Health Proposed Rule for 2024.

Listen to three national Medicare home health industry experts as they discuss the proposed rule's impact on providers and access to patient care, legislative and advocacy strategies, and clinical and operational action items home health providers can implement today to help minimize the looming financial impact on your business.

This webinar will also provide important information on safeguarding your business operations through home health provider compliance, star ratings and accurate cost reporting.

Reserve Your Spot

 

Optum Hospice Annual Conference

Optum Hospice is inviting HHAC members to attend their next Annual Conference on September 22nd, which is virtual again this year. This free one-day virtual conference will provide valuable education to all hospice clinicians. Keynote speakers will open and close the conference along with additional hospice-focused sessions covering adult medication management, pediatrics, and wound care. Follow the registration link below for more information including a detailed agenda.

REGISTER TODAY: https://hospicepharmacy.optum.com/annual

Please Note: This conference is free of charge for the clients of Optum and invited guests. When registering online, the 4-digit group number assigned to Optum clients is required. If not a client, please use the group code GUEST when registering. If a member of one of our sponsoring organizations, please use the organizations acronym in the group code field (i.e., LeadingAge Ohio members would use LAO for group code, NHPCO members would use NHPCO as group code, etc.).

 

Beyond The Cuts: What Else Home Health Providers Need To Know About CMS’ Proposed Rule

Home Health Care News | By Patrick Filbin
 
When the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published its FY 2024 home health proposed payment rule, the 2.2% cut immediately became the focus.
But the nearly 300-page rule included dozens of other notable, proposed changes to home health care.
 
From Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model tweaks to a more focused approach on health equity, there are a number of developments that home health providers and stakeholders are keeping an eye on.
 
HHVBP
One of the major changes CMS included in the proposed rule deals with HHVBP.
Most notably, CMS is proposing to remove five quality measures and add three to the applicable measure set starting in 2025.
 
The three additions are around discharge function scores, discharges to the community and potentially preventable hospitalizations during home health care coverage.
 
“There are some significant updates to the VBP, not the least of which is the highest measure, which is currently acute care hospitalizations,” Nick Seabrook, managing principal and SVP of consulting at SimiTree, told Home Health Care News. “CMS is changing that now to potentially preventable hospitalizations. This may be the way to help offset that dynamic where, if you’re an agency that is hospital-based, you may have a higher rehospitalization rate because of the nature of the patients you take and their acuity.”
 
The new potentially preventable hospitalizations benchmark, Seabrook said, is CMS’ way of introducing a new algorithm that will try to level the playing field across the industry.
Another reason why that change is critical for home health providers to pay attention to is the weight of that measure in the overall VBP calculation.
 
“It’s still being proposed that 26% of your VBP score is weighted towards that one specific measure,” Seabrook said. “If you’re going to focus on any measure on your value-based purchasing measures, it’s going to be that one.”
 
Another change includes replacing the OASIS-based discharge-to-community measure with the claims-based discharge community post-acute care measure…

Read Full Article

 
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