2008 Salary and Trends Survey Don’t delay. Take the 2008 Salary and Trends Survey. To access, click the icon in the upper left-hand corner of Case in Point’s main page.
Large payer recruits musicians to soothe patients in hospitalsLive music is helping ease the stress and soothe patients at Kaiser Permanente’s hospitals. Groups such as Music for Healing and Transitions certify singers and instrumentalists for performances in healthcare settings. Click here to read about this dulcet therapy.
New smoking cessation website, ROI calculatorEmployers and payers will be interested in a new website that features a facile web-based ROI calculator that estimates the impact of smoking cessation interventions for periods of one to five years. Click here to read the AHIP press release.
CMS makes changes to hospice-related rulesNew CMS regulations published in the Federal Register on June 5, 2008, detail the first major changes to hospice-related rules since 1983. The changes to the regulations reflect the way palliative care has changed over the years, says Kerry Weems, acting administrator of the CMS. Click here to view the changes.
Home-care team educates patients about controlling diabetesA home-care diabetes education team is helping Northwest Community Hospital in suburban Chicago extend the reach of its inpatient and outpatient diabetes services. The team, which includes a certified diabetes nurse educator, two cardiac nurses, a wound care-certified nurse, a physical therapist, a social worker and a registered dietitian, provides multidisciplinary continuity of care to reduce complications and costs and improve the patient’s quality of life. Click here to read more.
‘Fake patients’ put future MDs to the testThe University of Vermont’s medical school uses “Mania Day” to help future physicians develop their diagnostic skills and learn to deal with diverse groups of patients. An increasingly popular teaching model, the simulation includes live “patients” who train to present realistic medical scenarios for the students. Click here to read about this effectively real exercise.
