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New Hospice Comparison Website Raises Efficacy Concerns Hospice Compare, a new website from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), publishes data from hospice providers with the goal of opening conversation pathways about hospice among care providers, patients, and families. The site compiles data from nearly 4,000 hospice providers based on seven quality measures: •
Addressing patients’ beliefs and values
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Treatment preferences
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Screening for pain
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Assessing pain
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Dyspnea screening
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Dyspnea treatment
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Patients treated with opioids who are given a bowel regimen
ranked—before rankings were published. CMS, however, will take steps to improve the site’s rankings. Officials say new data from a Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers & Systems Hospice survey will be added to the website next year. This, they say, should differentiate the providers more accurately.
More than three-quarters of the hospices on the website scored over 90% on six out of the seven quality measures, which raises questions about the efficacy of the ratings. One concern is that the providers listed on the site were given time to familiarize themselves with the quality measures by which they’d be
For now, experts caution against placing too much faith in the site’s data. In the September 2017 issue of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, Karl Steinberg, M.D., who works with the National Quality Forums on quality measures, said the ratings should be taken “with a grain of salt.” ●
underwent minimally invasive eye scans to detect amyloid deposits at the back of the eye. Amyloids are the proteins found to be linked to plaque buildup in the brain, which is indicative of Alzheimer’s.
crosses the blood-brain and blood-retina barriers to light up any amyloid deposits present.
Mind’s Eye There’s a new screening test for Alzheimer’s disease
Those thought to be at risk for Alzheimer’s currently undergo invasive, expensive brain scans to detect its presence. A new eye scan could change all that. In a study published in JCI Insight, 16 research patients
Patients drank a solution containing curcumin (a substance found in the spice turmeric). The substance’s natural fluorescence
Researchers hope this retinal imaging could be used to more affordably and comfortably detect early risks of Alzheimer’s. At the least, it would help determine who needs the traditional brain scans and who may be able to forgo the expense and hassle. ●