Why should a hospice be allowed to bill medicare for 31 days a month, when they are closed on the weekends?
145315
Ive read your other questions and you seem to have a grudge against nurses for some reason. Just b/c you had a bad experience with one doesnt mean all nurses are bad. And no, hospices are not closed on weekends, thats impossible especially if the hospice deals with at home patients. Maybe you wanted the nurse who normally goes there to come in on her day off in which case somebody should have been covering. Yes we have lives outside our jobs and unless it`s an emergency I aint coming in on my day off. Sorry.
1008974
Paramedics have different schedule's set forth by there state, local, and federal governments.  While some paramedics may work 12 hour shifts each day five days a week others may work 48 hours on call and 72 hours off duty time to spend with friends and loved ones.  Paramedics even emts respond to a wide variety of emergencies, but they also do a variety of other things.  Like transport a patient from a nursing home to a doctor, hospital, or for other medical reasons that a patient may need to be transported.  Most of those patients may me elderly from nursing home's or someone that may not be able to get to therapy on there own free will.  So when you see an ambulance driving down a street it may be that they are doing the thing that they wanted to do when they became a paramedic.  To preserve the integrety of life, and to help those in need know matter what is put in front of them.  Paramedics in thier time off from there job with the ambulance service sometimes work in the hospital emergency room or volunteer there time to other things.  The one most thing that paramedics, emt's, or any other person in the medical field such as nurse's, doctor's or any other medical proffesional they never stop learning.  They go to refresher course's and other learning source to keep the high standards of rescue and medical care skill's up to date and in tune.  Some cities have there own ambulance's that are part of the fire department.  They work the same hours as the firefighters and are on call the whole time that they are at the station.  They eat, shower, sleep, and that is thier home away from home.  Paramedics, firefighter's, and other medical professional's sacrifice not only thierselves, but also it take's away from there family and kid's.  That's called dedication to the care of helping people and saving lives without being selfish.  There family also sacrifices thier loved father, daughter, son, or wife that is a paramedic so that they may be able to oneday save you or one of your families lifes or to give comfort in the unfortunate event that there is a tragedy.  So you might say that if you were a paramedic, it does'nt just effect you.  It also effects your family and love one's and the person or person's you are trying to give medical help to.  If you are thinking about being a paramedic dont think your going to do it for the money, because you not going to make a gold pot full of money.  Most paramedics that got into there field did so without self reservation.  They did to help the people they could help and comfort the one's they could in the time of loss.  A paramedic and emt are your advocate.  When you are injured and can't speak for yourself and can't tell them what is wrong it is thier proffesional knowledge and quick thinking in a moments notice that save your life with the continued communication's with the medical doctor's and staff of the emergency room that you may being transported to.  The paramedic is your voice, eye's, and ear's to make sure that you get the proper level of care by the time that you reach the hospital.  Without the paramedic's training, knowledge, and skill,s how do you think that you would make to the hospital in a life threatning situation.  You wouldnt.  A paramedics life is not all a bed of rose's.  Being a paramedic is a hard and very challenging job.  So remember when see that ambulance traveling down your city street.  The paramedic never stop's working or learning.  It is also a very demanding job.  On a lighter note paramedic's are able to go on vacation, and spend quality time with there family when there away from work.  Remember a paramedic doesnt always get that patt on the back or a job well done.  They mainly get only self gratifitcation and to know that they may have helped make a change for the good in someones life to the best of their ability.  I could keep going but
888450
first of all i am a nurse and do private duty nursing and stayed with many cancer pts and seen how quickly that it affects the patients and their family. But no one really understands it til it affects a member of their own family. I have to agree with someone else that answered that hospice is the best and i know this first hand as on oct 2nd this year my dad found out he had lung cancer. a week later after a week of xrays and cat scans he found out the cancer had spread from his lungs to his throat and brain. with the throat cancer, he had lumps come up on his neck. for the last 5 yrs we thought dad was going thru alzheimers, but come to find out that some of the symptoms of brain cancer was forgetfulness and repeating themselves.i did alot of research on these 3 cancers, and it will tell you that lung cancer has no cure. all kemo and radiation does is try to shrink the cancer cells, but doesnt get rid of them completely.since your dad is refusing his meds, its possible that the kemo might have burned his throat like dad, dad couldnt take pills towards the end and had difficulty in swallowing. there is a product on the market that the dr can write a prescription for and also get it at walmart....its called thick it. just put a couple of teaspoons in his water or tea or soup and it will thicken it up enough where he can drink it with ease.from the time dad found out he had cancer til the time he died, he lived 52 days. like i said i know what you are going through as i have been there and experienced it first hand. dad died on thanksgiving day this year, its hard for me to talk about this sometimes, but, just maybe from what we went thru with dad will help someone else with lung, throat or brain cancer. i know for a fact that hospice will not come in until they are done with kemo or radiation.once they come in, they will get anything you need for him, such as hoist lift, hosp bed, bedside commode, shower seat, wheelchair and walker. they will be there any time you need them or just to talk. hospice is wonderful.we tried to get dads dr to put him on the morphine liquid drops and he refused and i am still furious about that. thanksgiving being a holiday, a hospice RN can override a drs orders which is what we did. we finally got him on the drops about 5 hrs before he died. hospice said it eased the transition from being in pain to leaving this world. all 3 kids were by his side when he left us. we told him we loved him and that we always had and that it was ok to go, that we would see him again.all that day he was unresponsive except for one time when he opened his eyes and looked at mom and said i love you babe. the sunday before he passed, we kids knew even as sick as he was, he still knew the love for mom and i had the pleasure of witnessing it first hand. he pulled her down and whispered in her ear and she smiled and said i love you too and then he pulled her down a second time and whispered something again, and again she smiled as tears came to her eyes as she said i have always loved you too. so my friend i hope that what i have shared with you has helped you in some ways. feel free to email me anytime you need to talk. sultrybitchnc@yahoo.com
870269
Probably from years ago, when there were "blue laws", and many, or most businesses were closed.  Later, employees with labor unions wanted a confirmed day off, so it's likey that this is a covered issue in many union contracts.
79504
HIPAA really doesn't have a whole lot to do with the billing aspect. As long as the patient signs a consent form allowing you to bill on their behalf, you can. It allows you to release any information needed to the insurance company to get the claim payed.
388529
i think its ok for dr.s to work part time, not necessarily one day a month though.\n\nthings are getting crazy for doctors, especially primary care physicians. all medications need to go through them, medicare has new requirements for information for coverage, everything needs to be documented in writing on top of seeing patients for everyday health concerns and checkups.\n\nthe doctor i work for is in the office all day, rounds at the hospital in the morning and afternoon, covers for his partner two days a week, and is more than 4 months behind on documentation and paperwork. if he only worked 3 or 4 days a week, he could have a day or two to catch up on all the adminstrative bull and be more able to focus on the patients.\n\njust to keep his hand in... haha... maybe that gyno needs a girlfriend.
303120
Bereavement leave is governed by company policy.  I've not done business or work in a state so far that "requires" leave for the death of a family member.  The "standard" most companies go by is 3days paid leave and up to two weeks total (being unpaid or using vacation for the rest).\n\nSome companies just allow 3 days but don't pay it, some allow one day, it's a company decsion.
267121
Yep. Cheaper to call on weekends.
786057
I don't know Australian law, but I would expect they can schedule payday whenever they want.  They just can't change the rules without proper notice.
322352
Call the attorney generals office in your state and ask what is required, such as space professional medical employees, beds equipment etc.  Hospice is a sad business, it is wonderful for the dying people but you know when you are getting a new patient that they will soon die.
81330
because without a standard of care, the treatment received by patients may be inappropriate to the point of dangerous.\nwithout a standard of care, and guidelines regarding protocal to follow concerning situations that may arrive in the health care environment, chaos and injury would surely ensue.\n\nFor instance, if there were no policy regarding using bed rails for patients who are prone to falls, then it wouldn't be established whether to put the rails up or down.  If the person were to come out of the bed and get hurt and questions regarding the bed rails were to arise, then the health care institution could be cited, fined and possibly closed down.  Not to mention the personal liability that the employee faces for being "negligent" in leaving the rails down resulting in the injury of the patient.  People have been sued for such issues.\n\nSo yes, it is important to have standards and guidelines in a health care facility, and the preceding answer justifies the why of the question.
642845
Because it is required by federal law.\n\nUnder Federal law, if you are a TRICARE beneficiary entitled to Medicare because of age, disability or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), you must enroll and pay the monthly Medicare Part B premium in order to remain TRICARE-eligible. If you are an active duty family member entitled to Medicare, you aren't required to purchase Part B until your active duty sponsor retires. \n\nYou will lose your TRICARE benefits if you disenroll from Part B or stop paying your Part B premiums. \n\nhttp://www.tricare.osd.mil/tfl/how_a.cfm
992110
I hope you are ready to hear this, but she may be getting ready to die. Have you looked into nursing homes? When it gets to be too much for you to handle, you might want to look into hospice care, they help the patient and the family for the inevitable. But when a person stops eating, they have given up and are preparing to die. When looking at nursing homes, don't get freaked out by the price, because they usually don't stay too long. I'm going through this with my dad right now, actually he wants to go because he knows its getting too hard for mom to take care of him. Best wishes.
340431
it depends if you mean a non medical program or a visiting nurse program.\n\nvisiting nurses are only covered by medicare for 90 days after a hospitalization with acute skilled nursing need (changing dressings and bandages, etc)\n\nafter that it jumps to like 25 dollars an hour or so.... same with having a nurses assistant come in to help toilet them, thats like 15 dollars an hour.\n\ntry this... in NY (where i live ) there is a program called Expanded In Home Services for the Elderly (EISEP). there is a huge shift right now towards non institutionalized home care, and these programs are much cheaper than visiting professionals. mostly volunteers who come and assist them with dressing, cooking, and companionship. these services are not covered by Medicare and you can't get the services if you are eligible for Medicaid, but they're mostly state funded and i think the client only has to pay %15 percent of the cost. Again, this is in NY, so I'm not sure about Indiana, go to your State Department of Health Website and browse around under the Office for the Aging (or anything similar to that) and see if you can get the ball rolling.\n\ngood luck
860188
It should be standard management policy that sick days be excused with a doctors note ect.\n\nI would not get involved in that side but I would bring it up during\nnext meeting ect as to how management does deal with calling in sick and people abusing sick policy.\n\nsome people will never grow up.\nsome need to be written up...\n\nhow can one get sick just before work always....\nnot during holidays..\nnot on weekends==\njust on mondays  fridays\n\npaydays..
192239
acute care is just that...you take care of a person who is sick at this time. Generally it will not last, that would be chronic, like pneumonia...and your duties would depend on if you are in a home or hospital setting
678045
I don't. \n\nA pediatrician generally is on call 24 hours per day/ though they may share this duty with another doc or a group of docs.  Payment depends on what ones work arrangement is. A doc can be an employee of a group practice, a company, or can be self employed.  payment can depend on the success of the practice, or can be a percentage of her patients generated payments ( direct payments, co-payments, insurance payments etc.), or can be an amount of salary or other money he designates from her own company to cover her living expenses, or to compensate her for her work.\n\nUsually these payments will be either monthly or bi-monthly in schedule.