January 27, 2022
Lately, it seems like new developments concerning the COVID-19 pandemic have been flying around at a head-spinning pace. You’ve probably been bombarded with news of a highly contagious variant, sky-rocketing case numbers, or constantly evolving clinical guidance. One of the more encouraging developments is that oral antiviral drugs for COVID-19 have finally arrived. In late […]
Read MoreNovember 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 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 MoreJuly 22, 2020
When patients transition to hospice, deprescribing can be used as a tool to align treatment plans with changing goals of care. Deprescribing is the process of discontinuing inappropriate, ineffective, or unnecessary medications and is often used in an attempt to manage polypharmacy and improve patient outcomes.1 Medications used to treat hypertension (collectively referred to as […]
Read MoreJanuary 21, 2020
The Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act was signed into law by President Trump in October 2018. This legislation is aimed at addressing the opioid epidemic sweeping through the nation, with thousands of lives lost or ruined due to rampant abuse of prescription pain medications. […]
Read MoreDecember 14, 2019
In early 2019, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) released an update to the Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults, otherwise referred to as the Beers Criteria. The Beers Criteria provides a framework for safe medication prescribing in older adults, based on an expert panel’s systematic review of available evidence surrounding drug-related […]
Read MoreOctober 30, 2019
There is a need for alternative routes of administration in hospice and palliative care patients who often suffer from nausea and vomiting, dysphagia, gastrointestinal obstruction, and mental status changes, all of which may limit intake of oral medications. Compared to common alternative routes such as the intravenous and intramuscular routes, the rectal route of administration […]
Read MoreJune 13, 2019
In 2014, the American Pain Society (APS), College on Problems of Drug Dependence, and the Heart Rhythm Society released clinical practice guidelines that focused primarily on safe methadone prescribing practices. The APS guidelines included information regarding patient education, dosing and titration methods, recommendations for electrocardiograph (ECG) and adverse event monitoring. Unfortunately, these guidelines didn’t account […]
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