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…
Quality Indicators Can Cause Harm in Older Patients: An Inconvenient Truth
November 13, 2011
Quality indicators are used to measure the quality of health care delivered to patients. Quality indicators are used extensively in…
What Drugs Should You Avoid In the Elderly: An Update on the Beers Criteria
November 11, 2011
Dr. Mark Beers Should you always avoid the use of metaclopromide in the elderly (I still use it in some…
Is hospital observation status the new pathway to frailty?
November 4, 2011
Have you noticed that your hospital is using the observation status more instead of simply admitting the patient? Three recent…
Geriatric Palliative Medical Education – Yeah! There is a place tostart from…
November 2, 2011
Have you heard of the Portal for Online Geriatric Education (POGOe)? The Portal of Geriatric Online Education (http://www.POGOe.org/) is a…
Some days I hate POLST
October 28, 2011
There are days I hate the POLST form (Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment). In concept, it’s significantly better than…