Hospice of Michigan is one of 15 participants in the National Hospice Outcomes Project. Sponsored by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, this two-year research effort is designed to set national "best practice" standards for quality hospice care. This project is part of the Maggie Allesee Center for Quality of Life.

Participants will be documenting effective management of:

• Pain, using the 10-point Pain Scale



• Function, using the Palliative Performance Scale



• Shortness of breath, using the Dyspnea Assessment Tool

Hospice of Michigan will conduct a Clinical Practice Improvement study on 120 HOM patients over the coming two years. This project will help establish quality standards for hospice care in the areas of managing pain, shortness of breath and patient function. Currently there are no industry standards in these important areas of hospice care.

This project ends spring 2003.