Home Care for Sale

2021 ◽  
pp. 48-76
Author(s):  
Richard Schweid
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Quality Control ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Home Health Care ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal Regulations ◽  
Gray Market ◽  
Emotional Demands ◽  
And Training

This chapter begins by assessing the psychological and emotional demands of home care work. It then explains how home care, like other aspects of health care in the United States, is a marketplace commodity. Because need is so great, this commodification of home health care has proved tremendously profitable to the agencies serving as middlemen. In theory, these agencies impose a certain quality control, carefully screening and training the aides they send out to work. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Those agencies that work on a strictly private-pay basis and do not accept Medicaid clients are not subject to the federal regulations and are not legally required to provide aides with any training whatsoever. Moreover, the high cost of using agencies has generated a vast gray market for aides who work freelance and privately, without working for an agency or under any supervision other than that of the client and the client's family.

Bled

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Jean Moore
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Quality Control ◽  
Horseshoe Crab ◽  
The United States ◽  
Standard Test ◽  
Nonhuman Animal ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Health Care Demand ◽  
Horseshoe Crabs

In 1964, Limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL), developed from horseshoe crab blood, was discovered as an effective pryogen test. Limulus blood reacts to endotoxins by forming a gel. The LAL test, constructed from horseshoe crab amoebocytes, has become the standard test in the United States, Europe, and Asia to test pharmaceutical injectables and pharmaceutical insertables for biomedical and veterinary uses. Without it, endotoxins could contaminate all of our laboratory studies, our bodies, and other nonhuman animal bodies. We’ve made horseshoe crabs indispensable to our human and veterinary biomedicine. We need their blood, and as health care demand grows, we will need more and more. I explain how blood donations are detrimental to the crabs. Furthermore, I explain how the LAL test is a not lifesaving test but is instead used for quality control. Even with all of this information and the viability of a synthetic alternative, the bureaucracy surrounding the procedure for switching to the synthetic alternative will prevent the switch from happening until most of the crabs have died. They are not valued like humans are; they are instead valued for their use to humans and will be valued that way until they are used up.

QUALITY CONTROL AND THE COMMUNITY PHYSICIAN IN ENGLAND: AN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE

1976 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne Miller Wolman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Quality Control ◽  
Control Function ◽  
Health Planning ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Community Physician ◽  
The Government

The quality of health care is becoming an issue of increasing public importance in both England and the United States. As the government role in providing health care grows and citizen demands increase, the effective and efficient use of health care resources and their equitable distribution become crucial. Although government responsibilities, particularly for health care, differ in both countries, as do traditions of quality control, cross-national comparisons are nonetheless useful. An examination of the role of the new English community medicine specialist and his potential for quality control may indicate what tools and powers should be introduced into a health planning and quality control system in the United States. The study concludes that at the district level of the National Health Service, where the basic planning, monitoring, and evaluation of services are to take place, the District Community Physician has very limited tools to carry out his quality control function. Although he has a formal position in the unified decision-making structure, it is unlikely that he will be able to effect any substantial reallocation of resources without the voluntary support and cooperation of the consultants, general practitioners, and other health providers.

Response Bias in Hospice Evaluation

1991 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bert Hayslip ◽  
Josephine Hoffman ◽  
Doris Weatherly
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Response Bias ◽  
The United States ◽  
Satisfaction With Care

As a relatively new means of health care in the United States, hospices are continually seeking feedback to disclose ways in which they may provide more effective palliative services for patients and their families. An important source of such information has been caregiver evaluations, since these surveys reflect the needs for services of respondents and satisfaction with care. Bass found significant differences between caregivers who responded in hospice evaluation efforts and those who did not; nonrespondents cared for patients who entered the hospice in a more incapacitated condition, had more nursing visits, and returned to a hospital or other facility to die. In an attempt to cross-validate Bass' findings, an analysis of response bias was carried out among thirty-four recipients of care in a home care based hospice in the southwest. Nonrespondents were found to have better bereavement prognoses and tended to care for patients who were younger, male, and who were in the program for a shorter length of time. Nonrespondents had also been in contact with the staff less than had respondents. While this study only in part supports Bass' findings, its data are consistent with the conclusion that there are significant differences between caregiver respondents and nonrespondents. Consequently, hospices may unknowingly underserve nonrespondents and their patients if they do not take measures to more aggressively investigate their needs.

Pathology Resident Attitudes and Opinions About Pathologists' Assistants

2003 ◽  
Vol 127 (6) ◽  
pp. 666-672
Author(s):  
Dana Marie Grzybicki ◽  
Colleen M. Vrbin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
The United States ◽  
Resident Training ◽  
Health Care Economics ◽  
Health Care Environment ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Resident Attitudes ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
And Training

Abstract Context.—Changes in health care economics and organization have resulted in increased use of nonphysician providers in most health care settings. Attitudinal acceptance of nonphysician providers is important in the current health care environment. Objectives.—To obtain descriptive information regarding pathology resident attitudes and opinions about pathologists' assistants in anatomic pathology practice and to assess the implications of resident attitudes and opinions for pathology practice and training. Design.—A self-administered, mailed, voluntary, anonymous questionnaire was distributed to a cross-sectional sample of pathology residents in the United States (2531 pathology residents registered as resident members of one of the national pathology professional organizations). The questionnaire contained (1) items relating to resident demographics and program characteristics, (2) Likert-scale response items containing positive and negative statements about pathologists' assistants, (3) a multiple-choice item related to pathologists' assistants scope of practice, and (4) an open-ended item inviting additional comments. Both quantitative and qualitative analysis of responses was performed. Results.—The overall response rate was 19.4% (n = 490); 50% of the respondents were women, and 77% reported use of pathologists' assistants in their program. Most respondents were 25 to 35 years old and in postgraduate years 3 through 5 of their training, and most were located in the Midwestern United States. The majority of residents expressed overall positive attitudes and opinions about pathologists' assistants and felt that pathologists' assistants enhanced resident training by optimizing resident workload. A minority (10%–20%) of residents expressed negative attitudes or opinions about pathologists' assistants. Additionally, some residents reported a lack of knowledge about pathologists' assistants' training or roles. Conclusions.—Increased resident education and open discussion concerning pathologists' assistants may be beneficial for optimizing resident attitudes about and training experiences with pathologists' assistants.

scholarly journals An Exploratory Analysis of Patient-Provider Language-Concordant Home Health Care Visit Patterns

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Squires ◽  
Timothy R. Peng ◽  
Yolanda Barrón-Vaya ◽  
Penny Feldman
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Home Health Care ◽  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
The United States ◽  
Home Health ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Health Care Visit ◽  
The Right

Approximately one in five households in the United States speaks a language other than English at home. This exploratory, descriptive study sought to examine language-concordant visit patterns in an urban home health care agency serving a diverse and multilingual population. Patient care record data combined with administrative data facilitated the exploratory work. In a 2-year period, results showed that among the 238,513 visits with 18,132 limited English proficiency patients, only 20% of visits were language concordant. The study suggests that home health care services may not be meeting the demand for language services, but more research is needed to determine the right “dose” of bilingual home care visits to optimize home care outcomes and establish a standard for care.

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