Managed care hospice

Martin E. Confusion in the terminally ill recognition and management. Am J Hospice Paiiiat Care 1990 7(3) 20-24. 

In home health care or hospice settings, the pharmacist may be involved in compounding special admixtures for patients. The use of subcutaneously continuous infusions of opioids is also increasing. Pharmacists who review patients medical administration records in nursing homes can recommend appropriate therapies for pain management. 

Access to healthcare services is a marker of primary care quality, because acute episodes of asthma are avoidable if they are managed and appropriately treated in the community. Gaps in access to medical services between urban and rural areas exist, and include such things as convenience of transportation, range of services provided locally, as well as the cost for medical treatment. The previous literature indicates that a lack of medical services and specialists are more common in rural than in urban areas (Rural Healthy People 2010), and there is a low utilization efficiency of hospice services in rural areas (Gessert et al. 2006) in addition, disparities exist in the threshold for admission to hospital or clinic care, between urban and rural physicians (Russo et al. 1999). 

---