A new law spearheaded by state Rep. Bronna Kahle allows hospice providers to easily adjust pain medication so they can provide dignified end-of-life care to patients.
Kahle, said reforms were needed after a state law enacted in 2018 to combat the opioid epidemic inadvertently made it harder for hospice providers to administer pain medication.
“People in hospice care deserve to live out the last days of their lives as comfortably as possible,” Kahle said. “This law will allow providers to deliver seamless pain management to patients.”
Because most hospice care is provided in the patient’s home, Kahle said personal visits from a prescriber are difficult – and sometimes impossible – during a crisis situation.
House Bill 4225, now Public Act 43 of 2019, allows hospice care providers to administer pain medications to hospice patients without delay. They will no longer be required to obtain and review a report from the Michigan Automated Prescription System (MAPS) or establish a “bona fide prescriber-patient relationship” before administering medication.
*Media in this post courtesy of a press release from the office of State Representative Bronna Kahle*
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