November 23, 2021
Thankfully, most hospice patients will never experience significant bleeding. That said, when it does occur in can be extremely traumatic. Patients with end-stage renal or liver disease, cancer (especially head/neck and large lung tumors), and those receiving anticoagulation are at higher risk for serious bleeding. OnePoint’s Clinical Symptom Guide, now in its 3rd edition, details numerous […]
Read MoreOctober 1, 2021
Earlier this year in June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new Alzheimer disease (AD) drug for the first time since 2003.1 Biogen’s Aduhelm (aducanumab) is a monoclonal antibody infusion that’s administered every 4 weeks and targets amyloid beta plaque aggregates in the brain – an underlying cause of AD.2,3 Aduhelm is […]
Read MoreSeptember 15, 2021
We hope you were able to join the March and April presentations from our 2021 clinical webinar series, Budget Busters – Best Practices with NOACs, Insulins, and COPD Drugs in Hospice. Throughout the webinar, our Senior Clinical Pharmacist, Melissa Corak presented pearls and practical strategies to promote cost avoidance in circumstances where hospices would otherwise […]
Read MoreJuly 19, 2021
ACE-inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) are mainstays of heart failure treatment. But, if you have heart failure patients on your census, it might seem like more of them are taking sacubitril/valsartan (marketed as Entresto) – a sign that providers are keeping up with the 2021 update to the American College of Cardiology’s (ACC) […]
Read MoreJune 7, 2021
Hydroxyzine is a first generation histamine (H1) antagonist that’s been on the market since the 1950’s.1 Its mechanisms of action are unique. Not only does it compete with histamine for H1 receptor sites in the GI tract, blood vessels, and respiratory tract, but it also it exhibits activity at muscarinic, serotonergic, and dopaminergic receptors in various parts […]
Read MoreMay 11, 2021
Most of us don’t think twice about where we keep our cell phones as we go about our daily business. However, for people with implanted cardiac devices, storing the phone in a shirt or jacket pocket near the chest could have serious unintended consequences. Pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are both small battery-powered devices […]
Read MoreApril 29, 2021
A Quick Overview of the Causes of Urinary Discoloration Terminally ill patients may experience a variety of changes and new symptoms as the end of life approaches. Urinary symptoms may be especially troublesome for patients, family members, caregivers, and clinicians. Hospice patients commonly experience incontinence, retention, and decreased output. Another distressing change that patients may […]
Read MoreApril 19, 2021
Being a prognosticator, or a predictor, is one of many hats that hospice clinicians wear. The ability to provide an accurate prognosis plays a crucial role in many clinical decisions. In addition to clinical experience, hospice clinicians use tools like the Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) to help predict survival. Believe it or not, there’s one […]
Read MoreMarch 17, 2021
Pseudobulbar affect (PBA), also called emotional lability, is a condition of uncontrollable laughing or crying without provocation that isn’t consistent with a patient’s emotional state. PBA is most often observed in patients with neurological disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, brain tumors, or as a sequela of stroke. […]
Read MoreFebruary 4, 2021
Neuropathic pain is pain caused by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory system1 and is often described as sensations of burning, tingling, shooting, sharpness, stabbing, or like electrical shocks. It is associated with conditions seen in many hospice patients including cancer, diabetes, and stroke. Neuropathic pain may also be a complication of neuromuscular diseases […]
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