End of Life Care Part II: Drawing a Line

The Journal of Palliative Medicine recently published a survey of nearly 700 physician-members of a national hospice and palliative medicine organization. More than half of the survey respondents in the past five years had experienced a physician or health care professional referring to palliative care treatments as “euthanasia,” “killing” or “murder.”

The issue isn't so much debating the nuances of palliative care versus aggressive treatments. Rather, it is a highlight of the difficulties that physicians..

K&B Underwriters Among TMPAA's 2013 "Program Marketing Campaign" Award Winners

the Target Markets Program Administrators Association (TMPAA) announced at their Mid Year Meeting in Baltimore that 20 entries were received for the third annual marketing campaign competition. TMPAA's co-sponsor, the Insurance Marketing & Communications Association (IMCA), has sponsored its own marketing and communications "Showcase Awards" for 55 years. IMCA provided a panel of independent judges that reviewed all TMPAA member entries for both creative design and marketplace impact.

The winning member agencies were Venture Insurance Programs from West Chester, PA, K&B Underwriters from Reston, VA and MiniCo Insurance Agency from Phoenix, AZ. ..

End-of-Life Care Part I: The Importance of Language

End-of-life care often unwittingly conflicts with the goal of physicians to save lives. Technology, medical advances and treatments are meant to improve survival and function. It is understandable that medical professionals want to do everything possible to save their patients- it is also understandable and admirable that it can be personally difficult to acknowledge when treatment is no longer needed.

End-of-life care plans are the next step- they ease the transition for the patient, their loved ones, and provide..

Senior Living Communities: Multiple Diagnoses

Over 700,000 people live in assisted-living centers. The mid-way point between independent living residences and nursing homes, residents choose assisted living centers when they need help with daily activities but not the broad range of medical services of a medical nursing home. More than half of assisted living residents are 85 or older, and the population is growing. The three most common chronic ailments in assisted living facilities are Alzheimer’s disease, high blood pressure and heart disease- it is estimated that 82 percent..

Senior Living Insurance: Is this Ageism?

Clint Eastwood’s ad-libbed speech to an empty chair at the Republican National Convention still generates jokes. “#Eastwooding” remains a popular hashtag on Twitter, the most recent tweet being sent out early this morning.

The responses to Eastwood’s speech have become something of a pop culture joke that lingers today. The speech was slammed for its long-winded, ambling nature and the overall strangeness of speaking to an empty chair. However, it also drew comments directly..

How Insurance Programs Prevent Elderly Abuse in Nursing Homes: Part II

This is the second part of a two part series on the risk factors associated with elder abuse, risk management policies and best practices to prevent it.

There is a tendency to dismiss elder abuse as an extremely small problem that is not representative of the population. Statistics suggest that the violent crime rate is 17 times higher for people 18-21 than adults 65 or older. Yet the statistics surrounding..

Nursing Home Risk Management: The Right Thing vs. the Defensible Action

Rumors and heated debate have been swirling around the death of a resident in an independent senior living center. In a tragic case earlier this month, a woman collapsed and needed immediate medical attention. The nurse on duty called 911, but refused to perform CPR. When the dispatcher asked her why she refused to preform CPR, she stated that it was against company policy. The woman was later declared dead at..

How Insurance Programs Prevent Elderly Abuse

In this two-part series, we’ll examine the risk factors associated with elder abuse, and risk management policies and best practices to prevent it.

Elder abuse is loosely defined as “any form of mistreatment that results in the harm or loss to an older person.” It can include domestic abuse, institutional abuse, or self-neglect or self-abuse. As the population of older adults continues to rapidly expand, issues of abuse, recognizing it, and how to prevent it, are becoming..

Liability Costs: Risk Management for Senior Living Facilities

Risk Management is a crucial component of reducing senior living centers overall liability risks and costs. But actually developing a comprehensive strategy goes beyond that. Senior living centers face challenges that, while not directly related to a liability, such as a charge of negligence or an accident, are still indirect risks to a company. A quality risk management strategy needs to not only identify these risks but take a proactive approach.

Medicare reimbursement rates were implemented at a..

Risk Management for Nursing Homes Part 2: Best Practices

Nursing homes have the unique responsibility of providing daily care for frail and disabled individuals. The twenty-four hour daily care schedule also exposes nursing homes to specialized risks and liabilities. In Part I of this blog series, Risk Management For Nursing Homes: Part 1, we discussed what type of risks nursing homes face. This week, we’ll focus on proactive measures, and specific steps nursing homes can take to minimize their exposures. Below are some..