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Welcome to Hospice & Palliative Care Today, a daily email summarizing numerous topics essential for understanding the current landscape of serious illness and end-of-life care. Recent TCN Talks podcasts / videos reviewing Hospice & Palliative Care Today monthly content available for 2024: January; February; March; April, May, and June.
Hospice Action Network: MyHospice Ambassadors Roster
Hospice Action Network - NHPCO; 7/12/24
MyHospice Ambassadors are volunteers who have the capacity and initiative to lead, network, and take action on hospice and palliative care advocacy efforts. Participants play a very important role in advancing our policy priorities by building relationships with legislative offices, educating fellow hospice and palliative care advocates about priority issues, and mobilizing our advocacy efforts within their communities and networks. Our program has representation from across the nation and from every form of hospice, big or small, nonprofit or for profit.
Jim Jenkins: The long, strong, spectacular life of Robert McMillan ends with grace
WRAL News, Raleigh, North Carolina; by Jim Jenkins; 7/14/24
Robert McMillan long ago had been decorated with every honor his city and his state could bestow. But it was his private acts of kindness, his advice and the wisdom he offered so privately and the judgment everyone trusted profoundly. ... McMillan maintained his dignity most recently as he knew his time was coming, and he made the decision himself to enter hospice care, saying, “I need to rest.” Over 36 hours, there was time for his children and their children and friends to come to his bedside. Some whispered, some spoke to him strongly and recalled his kindnesses, and again and again, said, “I appreciate all you did for me and I’ll never forget it.”
Nathan Adelson Hospice receives $160,000 donation from The Robert Thomas Bigelow Medical Foundation, Inc.
Nevada Business; by Nathan Adelson Hospice; 7/11/24
Nathan Adelson Hospice, the leader in hospice and palliative care in southern Nevada, has been selected to receive a $160,000 donation from the Robert Thomas Bigelow Medical Foundation, Inc. through its grant program. The monetary donation will be used to purchase 38 new hospital beds for the hospice’s two in-patient facilities. Each bed has a state-of-the-art mattress that uses a self-adjusting system of synchronized air cylinders and pressure relief valves, which provide the most comfort for hospice patients. Two bariatric beds will be added, one for each in-patient unit. The bariatric beds expand in both length and width and have heavy-duty frames, to provide comfort and dignity to persons of size.
Notable mentions: Karen Rubel, Nathan Adelson Hospice President & CEO; Robert T. Bigelow, President of the Robert Thomas Bigelow Medical Foundation, Inc.
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A ‘Culture of Caring’: Calvary Hospital’s 125 year legacy in hospice and palliative care
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 7/11/24
Calvary Hospital in New York City is a progenitor of the hospice and palliative care models, but it has its eyes on the future nevertheless. The only hospital in the nation that is specifically devoted to hospice and palliative care, Calvary is celebrating the 125th anniversary of its founding this year. The faith-based organization was established in 1899 by a group of Catholic widows who called themselves the Women of Calvary. Its initial mission was to care for dying women who had been abandoned by the health care system, often with nowhere to live and no one to care for them.
What is palliative care, and can you get it at home?
U.S. News & World Report; by Claire Wolters, edited by Christine Comizio, MPH; 7/11/24
Modern medicine can treat and cure countless health conditions, but it can’t always repair the quality-of-life impairments these conditions leave behind. Palliative care is a health care service designed to fill those gaps by improving a patient’s quality of life. While they aren’t there to cure your disease, palliative care providers can help you manage symptoms and treatment side effects, plan for future medical interventions, prepare for end of life and more.
Editor's Notes: This article provide simple, comprehensive, user-friendly summaries from a reputable source that can be applicable for your community education, as well as your orientation for employees and volunteers.
Erin and Travis Jean’s son, Felix, died in infancy from a rare skin disorder. Here’s what they’d like other families to know about losing a child.
The Boston Globe; by Kara Baskin; 7/12/24
In March 2022, Erin and Travis Jean’s son, Felix, died at two-and-a-half months old from complications associated with epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a rare genetic skin disorder that causes severe peeling and blisters. He was cared for in the NICU at Mass General Hospital before spending his final days at home. ...
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C-TAC: CMS’ ‘Palliative’ Definition in 2025 Proposed Hospice Rule ‘Misaligned, Problematic’
Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 7/12/24
Efforts to establish potential payment mechanisms for high-acuity palliative services within the Medicare Hospice Benefit will require greater clarity from regulators, according to the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC). The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) 2025 proposed hospice payment rule contained a request for information (RFI) on the potential implementation of reimbursement pathways for “high intensity palliative care services,” such as chemotherapy, blood transfusion and dialysis. CMS in its proposed rule indicated that, “Hospice care changes the focus of a patient’s illness to comfort care (palliative care) for pain relief and symptom management from a curative type of care.” C-TAC’s recommendations are as follows: [Click on the title's link to read more.]
Chevron deference derailed
The Rowan Report; by Kristin Rowan; 7/12/24
... Chevron Deference in Home Health: Since the advent of the PDGM model, CMS has calculated payment rates based on its interpretation of budget neutrality. The National Association for Home Care and Hospice [NAHC] has disputed the validity of both the interpretation of budget neutrality and the formulas used to calculate it. Last year’s 2024 CMS Proposed Rule cut payment rates even further with a 2.890% Budget Neutrality permanent payment rate adjustment and a temporary rate adjustment to account for alleged overpayments from 2020-2022. The lawsuit filed against CMS in response to the 2024 Final Rule was dismissed. NAHC began pursuing an administrative review with CMS. [Click on the title's link to continue reading the discourse between CMS and NAHC, specific to home health.]
[CMS CAHPS Hospice Survey] Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
Federal Register; A Notice by the Centers for Mediare & Medicaid Services; 7/9/24
Type of Information Collection Request: Revision of a currently approved collection; Title of Information Collection: CAHPS Hospice Survevy; Use: CMS launched the development of the CAHPS Hospice Survey in 2012. Public reporting of the results on Hospice Compare started in 2018. The goal of the survey is to measure the experiences of patients and their caregivers with hospice care.
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Caring with compassion: VNA Health’s commitment to holistic home health care
VNA Health Live Well; by VNA Health; 7/10/24
Santa Barbara County has a unique home health care organization that is focused on serving its patients and their families without worrying about turning a profit. “As a nonprofit, VNA Health is more invested in the overall care of the patient,” said registered nurse Jadona Collier, the director of home health. “We provide programs and services that cannot be billed to Medicare or insurance.” The organization offers holistic care, meaning that, regardless of the service being used — including home health care, palliative care, hospice, and bereavement care — its medical professionals care about patients.
Fewer deaths after serious illness in veterans treated with PARC Care Model
U.S. Medicine; by LaTina Emerson; 7/11/24
After a serious illness, veterans who received medical care via the Post-Acute Recovery Center (PARC) model experienced fewer deaths and more days outside of the hospital compared to those not treated with PARC, according to a recent study. ... Using telehealth, PARC is administered by nurse practitioners to address the complex needs of intensive care unit (ICU) survivors as they transition from hospital to home and improve access to post-ICU care for high-risk veterans, ... Each year, “more than 100,000 veterans transition from ICUs to their home after treatment for life-threatening illnesses, but this transition presents many challenges, including unresolved acute medical issues and the lingering effects of acute organ dysfunction,” according to the study authors. ...
Program of all inclusive care for the elderly expanding in the Triad
Spectrum News 1, Greensboro, NC; by Kaye Paddyfote; 7/12/24
Program of all inclusive care for the elderly, or PACE, is expanding in North Carolina. PACE provides all inclusive care to those who are 55 and older, and a new facility will serve Forsyth, Surry and Stokes counties. ... PACE’S medical director, Dr. Tiffany Reed, says the new facility will provide those in rural North Carolina the care and socialization that’s necessary. “We have transportation services as part of PACE, we're able to pick them up and bring them to the center so they can come to appointments and receive therapy and their medical care on site,” Reed said. “So that would could make a big difference out there.”
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Keeping staff members safe and sound by optimizing security technology
Security; by Paul Sarnese; 7/12/24
Nobody wants to invest in technology, only to have it go the way of the stationary bike that sits unused in the corner of a room. That holds true for healthcare organization leaders who are looking to invest in staff safety alarm systems that can help avert potentially dangerous situations. With workplace violence against caregivers increasing 115% since 2021, many healthcare organizations are, indeed, looking to protect workers from harm — and to shield their organizations from resultant financial distress.
Editor's Note: Workplace violence and staff safety continues to trend as a root cause for nursing and other healthcare strikes across the nation. Examine your organization's Incident Reports and QAPI initiatives. What needs to be addressed?
Employment protection for assisted dying medics
BBC, Isle of Man; by Ashlea Tracey; 7/9/24
The employment rights of healthcare staff on the Isle of Man [British Isles] who choose to be part of any potential assisted dying service will be protected under new proposed laws. Members of the House of Keys previously ensured similar rights for conscientious objectors during a previous debate on the Assisted Dying Bill 2023.
Editor's Note: We highlight the proposed legal protection of rights for both those who (1) support the Isle of Man's assisted dying law (if approved) and (2) conscientiously object.
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The Fine Print:
Paywalls: Some links may take readers to articles that either require registration or are behind a paywall. Disclaimer: Hospice & Palliative Care Today provides brief summaries of news stories of interest to hospice, palliative, and end-of-life care professionals (typically taken directly from the source article). Hospice & Palliative Care Today is not responsible or liable for the validity or reliability of information in these articles and directs the reader to authors of the source articles for questions or comments. Additionally, Dr. Cordt Kassner, Publisher, and Dr. Joy Berger, Editor in Chief, welcome your feedback regarding content of Hospice & Palliative Care Today. Unsubscribe: Hospice & Palliative Care Today is a free subscription email. If you believe you have received this email in error, or if you no longer wish to receive Hospice & Palliative Care Today, please unsubscribe here or reply to this email with the message “Unsubscribe”. Thank you.