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The National Association for Home Care and Hospice
[www.nahc.org]
is the trade association that represents the interests
and concerns of home care agencies, hospices, home care
aide organizations and medical equipment suppliers.
It is dedicated to making the lives of home care and
hospice providers easier, and its mission is to allow
people nationwide to receive health care and social
services in their own homes whenever possible.
The Web site offers legislative and regulatory information,
home care facts, statistics and cost analysis and information
about state associations. For the consumer, it provides
a home health agency locater for adult and pediatric
services.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services site
[www.cms.gov]
provides insight into the world of Medicare and Medicaid,
which services they will cover, eligibility and enrollment.
Of particular interest is a 51-page manual that contains
information on what durable medical equipment is covered
and the specific circumstances for which it is covered.
This includes hospital beds, pneumatic pressure devices,
transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulators and wheelchairs.
Another manual provides information on general coverage
issues, such as procedures, drugs and nursing services.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has established
a patient safety inquiry center in Tampa, Fla. The Web
site [www.patientsafetycenter.com]
provides information about its latest research and clinical
innovations. The center's objectives are to reduce risks
related to mobility, design a patient safety improvement
program, apply and test clinical innovations for safe
patient movement, and design and test innovative strategies
for patient safety.
Under the Safe Patient Handling and Movement page,
a patient care ergonomics resource guide, a no-lift
policy draft and a restraint policy draft can be downloaded.
A technology resource guide describes various patient
lifts and includes vendor information.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [www.bioterrorism.uab.edu]
has worked with other agencies, including the University
of Alabama and the Center for Disease Preparedness,
to provide resource information and continuing education
about rare infections and bioterrorism agents.
The site offers images of infectious diseases, pediatric
and adult continuing education modules and summary sheets
on the diseases that the CDC defines as "Category
A" or high-priority biological diseases, including
anthrax, smallpox, botulism, tularemia, viral hemorrhagic
fever and plague.
The National Headache Foundation site [www.headaches.org]
is divided in two sections: one for headache sufferers
and the other for health care professionals. Educational
resources include a CME on migraine prophylaxis, emergency
room protocols and a headache-screening questionnaire.
A headache measurement tool helps patients measure
the effect headaches are having on their lives and communicate
that information to their health care provider. Two
other assessment tools are the headache diary and the
migraine prevention screening tool.
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