Health Care Proxies and Advance Directives help Doctors in critical care of patients
The New Jersey Department of Health issued a comprehensive statement concerning triage and the care of COVID-19 patients in different kinds of licensed health care facilities. This is one among many directives issued in the past six weeks. Read the directive here: FinalAllocationPolicy4.11.20v2
As the patient is being treated, many decisions need to be made along the way, often in rapid-fire...
The Tender Talk about End-of-Life Planning
A regular part of the estate planning process involves a discussion with the client about selecting a line up of trusted individuals to serve as the client’s medical decision-makers. If the doctor determines that the patient has become incapacitated, there needs to be a designated proxy who can act on the patient’s behalf. Ideally, this person was selected by the patient beforehand...
Palliative care in a nursing home setting
A person who moves into a nursing home is referred to as a “resident” for a reason — this is their new home. At the end of life, the health care representative (or the patient himself) may be wondering whether there is a way to ensure that he can “die at home” in his bed instead of in a hospital. Paving the way for a quiet end will require teamwork and...
What are HIPPA forms and why do you need them?
What is known as “HIPPA” was enacted by Congress as the Health Insurance Protection and Portability Act of 1996. 42 USC 1320d-6. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1320d-6 It is designed to protect the confidentialiy of a patient’s medical information. The extensive federal regulations are found at 42 USC part 160....
What is Hospice care all about, really?
Palliative care is a specialized team approach to helping a patient to cope with the debilitating symptoms of certain serious complicated illnesses such as parkinsons Disease, heart failure, kidney failure, or COPD. The patient is receiving curative treatment and emergency room care during acute episodes of illness, and can receive dietary support, pain management, grief counselling, massage...