Literature Review

A comparison of hospice care utilization between rural and urban children in Appalachia: A geographic information systems analysisAmerican Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care, by Radion Svynarenko, Guoping Huang, Jessica Keim-Malpass, Melanie J Cozad, Kerri A Qualls, Whitney Stone Sharp, Deb A Kirkland, Lisa C Lindley; 3/24Long driving times from hospice providers to patients lead to poor quality of care, which may exacerbate in rural and highly isolated areas of Appalachia. This study aimed to investigate geographic patterns of pediatric hospice care across Appalachia... State-level policies should be developed to reduce driving times from hospice providers.

Hospice capacity to provide General Inpatient Care: Emergency Department utilization and live discharge among cancer patientsAmerican Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care, by Kyusuk Chung, M Courtney Hughes, Sara Rahmanian Koushkaki, Mia Richelle Risberg, Michelle Alcantara, Jennifer M Amico; 1/24Our results suggest that hospices capable of providing GIP care have lower live discharge rates than their counterparts. However, the fact that GIP care tends to be provided too close to death limits its effectiveness in preventing avoidable emergency department use.

Hospice care experiences among Medicare decedents with and without COVID-19, 2020–2021Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, by Ann Haas MS, MPH; Rebecca Anhang Price PhD; Marc N. Elliott PhD; Joan M. Teno MD, MS; Maria DeYoreo PhD; 2/24COVID-19, the third leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2020–2021, affected hospice care for all patients and their caregivers in many ways; patients with COVID-19 faced additional restrictions on visitations as well as direct effects of the disease. Using CAHPS Hospice Survey data from 3274 hospices nationally, we found that caregivers of Medicare decedents without COVID-19 diagnoses in 2020–2021 reported slightly worse hospice care experiences than caregivers prior to the pandemic. However, experiences for decedents with COVID-19 early in the pandemic (Quarters 2–4 of 2020) were 3.2 to 4.3 points lower than for decedents without COVID-19; these are medium-to-large differences, and larger than observed among any of the 20 most common primary diagnosis groups for the 2 overall assessments of care.

Hospice & Palliative Care Handbook, Fourth Edition: Quality, Compliance, and Reimbursement; 4th EditionAmerican Medical Association, by Tina M. Marrelli, with Jennifer Kennedy; 2023[This book] offers updated coverage of all aspects of hospice and palliative care for the entire healthcare team who provide important care while meeting difficult multilevel regulations. This edition includes examples and strategies covering key topics related to standards, guidelines, goals, and effective care planning.

Medicare threatens to pull funding from HCA’s embattled Mission HospitalSTAT, by Tara Bannow; 2/6/24Five years after investor-owned HCA Healthcare took over an esteemed nonprofit hospital in North Carolina, Medicare is threatening to cut off payment for any services it provides seniors. The rare and dramatic move follows a Medicare revelation that patient safety is in “immediate jeopardy” at Mission Hospital in Asheville. That designation is the most severe the agency can hand out. HCA has just a few weeks to fix the problems or lose its Medicare funding.

Delivering effective messages in the patient-clinician encounter JAMA, by Joseph N. Cappella, PhD and Richard L. Street Jr, PhD; 2/1/24Effective communication between patient and clinician is a core function of the medical encounter.In a survey of cancer survivors, communication breakdowns most often identified by respondents were failures of information exchange, both in information provided by the clinician (eg, too complex, not enough) and in missing information from the patient or failing to elicit it. ... [A] table provides specific examples of what clinicians can (and should not) do to accomplish [effective communication] goals.

Senior living providers can tap into $25 million grant to develop dementia-specific respite servicesMcKnights Senior Living, by Kimberly Bonvissuto; 2/7/24Senior living operators who provide, or are considering providing, respite services for family caregivers of people living with dementia can apply for a piece of $20 million in grant funding. The Alzheimer’s Association will use a $25 million, five-year grant award from the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living to establish a new Center for Dementia Respite Innovation tasked with making respite services and service providers more dementia-capable. 

Part 2, Latest updates from CMS Office of Minority Health: Advancing health equity in rural, tribal, and geographically isolated communities FY2023 year in review

Recent hospital, health system CEO movesBecker's Hospital Review; 2/8/24Highlights CEO moves February 1-7, 2024

CMS notifies HCA Mission Hospital of immediate jeopardy statusBecker's Clinical Leadership, by Erica Carbajal; 2/6/24CMS has sent a letter to HCA's Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C., to notify leadership that the hospital is in immediate jeopardy and must take action to avert the loss of federal funding...

Concurrent Medicare hospice & curative care improves quality & reduces costs 13%Open Minds; 2/7/24Medicare beneficiaries with terminal health conditions who participated in the Medicare Care Choices Model (MCCM), received high quality care at a 13% lower cost compared to similar beneficiaries who did not receive the MCCM services. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) tested this new model as an option for Medicare beneficiaries to receive supportive care services while continuing to receive services for their terminal condition.