Should for-profit hospices be banned? Or are they victims of a witch hunt?
January 6, 2012
10 year stock price of Gentiva, the nation’s fastest growing for-profit hospice provider For-profit hospice has been in the news recently,…
MMSE and Copyrights Part II: Is the MMSE Derivative of Some Other Work?
December 31, 2011
A couple of days ago we coveredDr. John Newman’s NEJM perspectives piece that focused attention on how a company, PAR,…
Copyrights and Copylefts in Medicine: The Case of the Wayward MMSE
December 29, 2011
The Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) is the most widely used cognitive screening test. Many have attributed this to the relative…
‘Tis the Season: The BMJ Christmas Edition
December 21, 2011
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, not because those damn kids jingle belling and everyone telling you…
SIT DOWN!!
December 12, 2011
Sometimes the best ideas are so simple that you both marvel at their eloquence and wonder why you never thought…
Discussing Prognosis When Longevity Is the Only Life Limiting Condition
December 7, 2011
I think we all probably agree that health care providers should give patients with a life limiting illness the option…
Potpourri from Clinical Work V
December 6, 2011
The following observations and questions came up during my recent work as palliative care attending. Thoughts and responses are welcome:…
Treating Pain to Reduce Behavioral Disturbances in Dementia
December 5, 2011
There have been a lot of pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions proposed for the all too common behavioral complications of dementia…
Too Much of A Good Thing
November 26, 2011
There is an estimated 6.7 million emergency hospitalizations every year in the US. One out of every 67 of these…
The Hospital Disability Syndrome
November 20, 2011
Ken Covinsky previously posted on GeriPal a while back about the dangers of hospitalization in older adults. Ken notes…