[Updated] CMS proposes over 4% cut to Home Health Medicare payments in 2025 
Home Health Care News; by Andrew Donlan; 6/26/24 
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published its FY 2025 home health proposed payment rule Wednesday. With it, the agency signaled that more significant cuts could be on the way for providers. To rebalance the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) and make it budget neutral, at least according to its internal methodology, CMS is proposing a permanent prospective adjustment to the CY 2025 home health payment rate of -4.067%. For CY 2023 and CY 2024, CMS previously applied a 3.925% reduction and a 2.890% reduction, respectively.

Hospice charity’s online community ‘at huge risk’ after Meta ban 
ThirdSector, United Kingdom; by Emily Harle; 4/26/24
The charity says it has been unable to fully access to its Facebook and Instagram accounts after the admin was banned for posting a hospice advert.  Lewis-Manning Hospice Care has lost access to its Meta Business Manager account, saying the unexpected ban has left it unable to access analytics, fundraising tools and at risk of losing its entire online community. The charity, which offers palliative care for people with life-limiting illnesses and their families across east Dorset, has been left unable to fully manage its Facebook and Instagram accounts for more than a year after an admin was banned by Meta. Olivia Girling, head of marketing and communications at Lewis-Manning Hospice Care, told Third Sector the ban was imposed on the charity’s former marketing manager’s advertising account, after she posted a fundraising advert. Girling said Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, told the charity the ad had “violated community guidelines,” but she insisted it was a “generic hospice marketing post.” When pressed for its reasoning behind the ban, Meta would not give any further explanation, she said.
Editor's Note: Click on the title's link for this important information, inconsistent outcomes, and horrific bans from being able to manage one's own hospice Facebook and Instagram accounts.

CHAP Pediatric Care Certification
CHAP press release; 6/27/24
Join the movement and shape the future of pediatric care. As an independent, nonprofit accrediting body for home and community-based healthcare organizations, CHAP is proud to offer the Pediatric Certification at no extra cost for CHAP-accredited providers. Standards available here.

Nonprofit hospice to add 12-bed inpatient floor at its Colorado Springs headquarters 
The Gazette, Colorado Springs, CO; by Debbie Kelley; 6/26/24 
Pikes Peak Hospice & Palliative Care — which holds the titles of the region’s only nonprofit hospice and the only inpatient provider of end-of-life services — is adding 12 family suites for inpatient care at its headquarters in Colorado Springs. “The benefit of us being able to design something on our own is it removes that hospital-type setting and makes it a homelike experience,” said Andy Petersen, executive director of the Pikes Peak Hospice Foundation, the organization’s separate fundraising arm. “It’s going to be a great service for the community.” The first floor of the organization’s large two-story building at 2550 Tenderfoot Hill St. off Lake Avenue will undergo an $8.5 million renovation and be transformed into an Inpatient Care Center.

Navy veteran in hospice care in Stark County made a final birthday wish. It came true. 
The Repository, Massillon, OH; by Steven M. Grazier; 6/26/24 
Robert "Bob" Patterson's final birthday wish came true on Tuesday. He said he wanted it loud, festive and full of life. It appeared to be all that and more. The U.S. Navy veteran has been a Harley-Davidson buff and avid motorcycle rider for 62 years. He's called Rose Lane Nursing & Rehabilitation Center home the past couple of months and is in hospice care. Friday is Patterson's 85th birthday, but his last biker bash was celebrated Tuesday with hundreds of folks, which included family, friends, Rose Lane workers and fellow residents.  He was amped for the festivity. "I'm excited — really pumped up!" Patterson said moments before about 190 motorcycles rolled into Rose Lane.

Chronic loneliness can raise stroke risk in older adults, findings show 
McKnights Long-Term Care News; by Kristen Fischer; 6/24/24 
A new study links loneliness to stroke risk, showing that those who are regularly lonesome have a 56% higher risk for stroke than those who are more socially connected. Situational loneliness wasn’t linked to a higher risk for stroke, which indicates that the stroke risk stems from chronic loneliness. Investigators led by a team from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health published their report Monday in eClinicalMedicine. Research has already linked loneliness to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. The new report is one of the first to evaluate the association between loneliness and stroke risk.

HHS to impose penalties on providers that block patients’ health information 
McKnights Home Care; by Adam Healy; 6/24/24
In a bid to promote easier access and exchange of patients’ health records, the Department of Health and Human Services published a final rule Monday outlining penalties for providers that block access to electronic health information. ... Fragmented and inaccessible patient data can prevent long-term and post-acute care providers from seeing the full picture of a patients’ health. Hospitals, for example, are not required to share updates about a patient’s health with the patient’s post-acute care provider. As a result, home health and home care agencies frequently cannot access patients’ electronic health records to help assess and treat patients. Three disincentives: ... First, hospitals that commit information blocking can be subject to a reduction of three quarters of an annual market basket update. Second, clinicians eligible for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System will receive a zero score in the “promoting interoperability performance” MIPS category, which can be equivalent to roughly a quarter of the clinician’s MIPS score in a given year. Lastly, providers that participate in information blocking can have their Medicare Shared Savings Program or Accountable Care Organization eligibility revoked for at least one year. ...
Editor's Note: Almost any solution raises additional challenges. How does HIPAA interface with this? How might a cyberattack at a hospital (or other healthcare agency) affect the patients' other agencies, putting them at risk as well?

Fixing the hospital-to-home health care transition 
Home Health Care News; by Andrew Donlan; 6/25/24 
The transition between hospital discharge and home health care is often fraught with issues. Unfortunately, it also happens to be one of the most crucial parts of a patient’s care journey. With more sick and complex patients coming into home health care than ever, a swift start of home health care is also arguably more important than ever. ... The Discharge to Assess (D2A) Model was a response to this issue in England. The Supporting Older Adults at Risk (SOAR) program, following a similar framework to D2A, was also recently established in the U.S. A study of SOAR’s results within a pilot program in Pennsylvania was recently published in the Journal for Healthcare Quality.

New PACE program at JVCHC offers comprehensive, coordinated care for seniors
KSMU Ozarks Public Radio; by Michele Skalicky; 6/24/24 
A new program at Jordan Valley Community Health Center in Springfield will allow those 55 and older to age in their own homes. The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly is the first PACE program in southwest Missouri. "We'll do home assessments to make improvements that will allow them to live in their homes safely so we don't have potentials for trips and falls or if somebody has a need to have a built, we'll take care of all of that through our home assessment and allow them to have the safest possible home," said Ryan Kruger, vice-president of operations for PACE and pharmacy at the health center. The PACE model uses an interdisciplinary team of professionals that provide coordinated care. PACE care includes medical and personal care, rehabilitation, social interaction, medications, transportation and more.

7 of the top tech and IT jobs in demand for the future 
TechTarget; by David Weldon; 6/24/24 
Businesses of the future will rely on workers with IT skills even more than they do today. Find out which jobs might be most in demand and what those roles entail. ... Organizations are having to create new tech roles and redefine existing ones to manage the integration of AI and data into core business functions. Meanwhile, cybersecurity continues to be a top concern, as do digital transformation and cloud computing. These challenges are increasing the demand for job roles that merge technical expertise with strategic business acumen. ... So, what will be some of the hottest IT jobs of the future? ... Roles are listed in alphabetical order. 

• AI product manager ...
• Business analyst ...
• Chief AI officer ...
• Chief technology officer ...
• IT risk analyst
• Prompt engineer
• Security analyst/information security analyst

KCAD grad Brianna L. Hernández explores intersection of art, death, and grief through prestigious Hyperallergic curatorial fellowship 
Ferris State University, Grand Rapids, MI; 6/25/24 
As Brianna L. Hernández grieved the loss of her mother, she understood she was not alone in the experience and her thoughts turned to helping others. Her work to share the experience has earned recognition. Hernández, a 2016 graduate of the Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University, was one of five people selected for the prestigious 2024 Emily H. Tremaine Journalism Fellowship for Curators ...  Every year, the fellowship offers five curators $5,000 to support their research while developing their journalistic skills. ... [Experiencing her mother's death] profoundly shifted her work toward a focus on death, and the living who are left behind to cope with loss. “As she was dying and right after she died, I knew I needed to make work about it for my own healing, but I also knew that my situation was not unique,” Hernández said. “I felt like it was of both artistic and social importance to put that out there in a way that hasn't been addressed.”

From nurse to CEO: 2 executives reflect on their paths to the top 
Becker's Hospital Review - Leadership & Management; by Erica Carbajal; 6/25/24 
Throughout their careers, Laureen Driscoll, MSN, RN, and Kathy Tussey, DNP, RN, remained open to change and said yes more often than no, even to opportunities about which they were skeptical or knew would be a challenge. Today, Ms. Driscoll is chief executive of Providence's South Division, which spans 17 hospitals in Northern and Southern California, and Dr. Tussey is CEO of Harrison Memorial Hospital in Cynthiana, Ky. Neither envisioned pursuing a path to the top role when they began their healthcare careers as bedside nurses. ... Hospital and health system CEOs with a background in nursing appear to be few and far between, though the true proportion of nurse CEOs in healthcare is unclear due to a lack of data. Becker's recently caught up with Ms. Driscoll and Dr. Tussey to learn more about their career trajectories and their top pieces of advice for other nurses eyeing a path to the helm. 

• AccentCare announces the appointment of Chris Mayne as President, Home Health
• Beebe Health in Lewes, Delaware has selected Amanda Connoyer, DNP, APRN as its first ever Chief Advanced Practice Clinician
• Empath Health appointed
• Tarrah Lowry to Chief Operating Officer
• Bivek Pathak to Chief Information and Digital Strategy Officer
• EvergreenHealth, based in Kirkland, Washington has named Bill Howe as CFO, to begin on July 22
• Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital, based in Townshend, Vermont, has named Olivia Sweetnam as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1
• Hospice of Davidson, in Lexington, North Carolina, promoted Aaron Holt, MBA, SHRM-CP to Chief Administrative Officer
• Novant Health, Winston-Salem, North Carolina has named Sanjeev Sah as Chief Information Security Officer 
• Seven Oaks Health, the newly formed partent company of Big Bend Hospice in Tallahassee, FL, has tapped
• Jon Wood to become President
• Dr. Deborah Morris to Chief Medical Officer
• Valley Health System in Paramus, New Jersey, has named K. Nadeem Ahmed, MD as Chief Medical Information Officer

Other Business Headlines of Interest, updated 6/27/24 per nasdaq.com

• Adus HomeCare (ADUS: $114.21)
• Amedisys (AMED: $92.07)
  
• BrightSpring Health (BTSG: $10.82)
• Encompass (EHC: $85.86)
• Enhabit (EHAB: $8.57)
• Ensign Group (ENSG: $120.84)
• HCA Healthcare (HCA: $343.29)
• Humana (HUM: $362.98)
• Pennant Group (PNTG: $22.71)
  
• Vitas / Chemed Corp (CHE: $544.94)

7 recent hospital, health system CEO moves 
Becker's Hospital Review; by Kelly Gooch; updated 6/18/24
The following hospital and health system CEO moves have recently been reported by Becker's:

1. Michael Laign plans to retire as president and CEO of Meadowbrook, Pa.-based Redeemer Health, effective July 15. Gregory Wozniak will succeed Mr. Laign.
2. Alejandro (Alex) Romero was selected as CEO of Las Palmas Medical Center in El Paso, Texas.
3. Rex Van Meter was named CEO of Enid, Okla.-based St. Mary's Regional Medical Center.
4. Candace Miller was named president and CEO of WVU Medicine Jackson General Hospital in Ripley, W. Va. Ms. Miller will succeed Stephanie McCoy, who is retiring.
5. Michael Cafasso was appointed CEO of St. Mary-Corwin in Pueblo, Colo., and St. Thomas More in Canon City, Colo.
6. Robert Grossman, MD, plans to retire next year as CEO of New York City-based NYU Langone Health and dean of NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
7. Scott Davis was named CEO of HCA Healthcare's Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colo. 
8. Kristi Olson will serve as CEO of Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colo.
9. Gina Temple, PhD, RN, will serve as CEO of St. Francis Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colo.

How many years has it taken people to realize that we are all brothers and sisters and human beings in the human race? — Marsha P. Johnson 
Editor's Note: Honoring Pride Month this last weekend of June 2024; continuing it year-round.