Literature Review

Empassion achieves $34 million in savings in novel Medicare program serving high needs patients Globe Newswire, New York City; 11/21/24 Empassion Health, Inc., the nation’s largest managed care provider of high-quality end-of-life care for adults living with serious illness so that they can have more good days, today reported near-record results for four Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) serving Original Medicare lives in 35 states.  Specifically, Empassion achieved total gross savings of $34.1m in the High Needs Population Track of ACO REACH for Performance Year 2023 while managing a record number of lives – nearly 9,000 across 35 states – in total cost-of care arrangements.  This includes a 50-percent reduction of unnecessary hospital stays.  Empassion also earned the highest quality scores for provider communication and care coordination.  “While we are enormously proud of the $34 million in Medicare savings, more important is that Empassion provided high-quality end-of-life care for adults living with serious illness so that they had more good days,” said Robin Heffernan, the CEO of Empassion. “These outcomes are specific to Empassion and its unique model. ..." 

Hospice a cornerstone of New Day’s 3-pronged growth strategy Hospice News; Holly Vossel; 11/20/24 New Day Healthcare LLC is prioritizing hospice growth in its strategic plans as the home-based care company focuses on improving quality for patients across the care continuum. Texas-based New Day launched in 2020 by a group of former hospice and home health professionals. The organization offers hospice, home health and personal care through several brands. New Day’s three-pronged merger and acquisition approach hinges on culture, quality and clinical excellence, according to CEO and Founder G. Scott Herman. Quality is perhaps the most important driver in a transaction consideration, Herman stated. ... To date, New Day has integrated 11 acquisitions into its pipeline, four of which have involved hospice assets.

Walking pneumonia is booming − and targeting the young and the poor USA Today, Arlington, VA; by John Bacon; 11/20/24 Infections of the bacteria that cause walking pneumonia, a lesser evil of the more serious illness of pneumonia, is seeing a dramatic jump after a lengthy decline that came with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, health officials say. Most alarming is the sharp increase in children infected with the disease. And, as with COVID-19, the impact of the disease can hit low-income Americans the hardest. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said infections from the bacteria that can cause walking pneumonia are common: An estimated 2 million infections occur each year in the United States. However, the true number isn't known, in part because so many people get it without seeking medical help and in part because there is no nationwide reporting system. The infections dropped off during the COVID pandemic but are now booming. Hospital emergency department discharge data from April to October showed an increase in infections of the bacteria among all age groups, according to the CDC.

Facing terminal cancer, former flight attendant granted final wish to fly one last time CBS News 13, Sacramento, CA; by Ashley Sharp; 11/19/24 A special last wish was granted for a Calaveras County hospice patient facing a daunting diagnosis. Janet McAnnally, 79, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer which spread to her spine. She knows she doesn't have long, but that did not stop the former flight attendant from taking to the skies one last time. ... McAnnally is now in the care of Hospice of Amador and Calaveras, ... Turning the page back to 1971, McAnnally was a flight attendant for seven years for Trans World Airlines, based in Chicago. ... The hospice center, under its Last Wish Program, reached out to local United Airlines pilot Rob Davids to help fulfill McAnnally's wish for one final flight high above Calaveras County. "I just felt lucky to be part of it and give her that chance," Davids said. "I just appreciate every flight like it's the last." At 79, for the first time, McAnnally even got to pilot the plane herself during their hour-long flight. ...

Pursuit of quick profits makes hospice care worse, new research says Ohio Capital Journal; by Marty Schladen; 11/20/24 Private equity firms — high-dollar investors known for aggressively seeking profit — and publicly traded health conglomerates have been buying up businesses that provide hospice care. But when it comes to caring for patients facing the end of their lives, those businesses perform worst, according to a research letter published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. ...  Publicly traded behemoths such as UnitedHealth Group and CVS Health are already the subject of investigations and lawsuits by federal and state government over allegedly anticompetitive actions as drug middlemen. At the same time, both provide hospice care. Meanwhile, the business practices of private equity groups have been coming under increasing scrutiny over the past decade. They often buy businesses in deals structured so they can quickly recoup their investment, identify the most profitable assets, sell them and then sell the resulting business or declare bankruptcy. ... The firms also have been accused of being predatory toward consumers.

Official collaboration between IAHPC and INCB ehospice; 11/19/24 The International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC) is pleased to announce that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). The purpose of the MoU is “to provide a framework of cooperation and understanding and to facilitate collaboration to further their shared goals and objectives in regard to improving the availability of internationally controlled substances for medical and scientific purposes.” ... The objectives laid out in the MOU include among others, the exchange of research, data, and analysis on an annual basis on controlled medicines and the exploration of possible solutions such as joint activities to make such information available to the international community. These objectives will be achieved through regular dialogues between INCB and the IAHPC.

Lamar Area Hospice’s grief programs are made possible from BBB donations The Prowers Journal, Lamar, CO; by Barbara Crimond; 11/20/24 The words “good” and “grief” don’t commonly go together.  At the Lamar Area Hospice, however, they not only go together but, when combined, embrace the idea of a place to go which allows children and adults to normalize their grief, receive support from others experiencing similar emotional struggles and education in healthy ways to move through their grief.  They learn that they can tell their stories in a safe, loving and nurturing environment.  I recently met with Deb Pelley (Executive Director of Lamar Area Hospice). Roni Vallejos (Children’s Good Grief Coordinator) and Kelsie Cedeno (Adult Bereavement Coordinator) to learn more about these programs.  I could immediately sense the compassion and love for their jobs that all three women have. Before telling me about the programs though, they told me that it was only because of the generous donations from the BBB each year that the programs can even exist. They wanted to express how extremely grateful they are to BBB for enabling them to continue Jillian Sweet Tinnes’s legacy. ...

BREAKING: CMS issues ‘significant’ survey changes for 2025 [long-term care] McKnights Long-Term Care News; by Kimberly Marselas; 11/19/24 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Monday issued “significant revisions” to its long-term care surveyor guidance, with changes affecting everything from admission and discharge standards to the use of psychotropic medications and newly adopted infection prevention practices. CMS released an advance copy of the 900-page document online, including new critical element pathways, to give providers and surveyors time to adjust to the new requirements before they go into effect Feb. 24, 2025. A significant portion of the changes is related to chemical restraints and unnecessary psychotropic medication.

The Alliance applauds Gerald’s Law passing through Congress National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance; formerly NAHC and NHPCO); Press Release; 11/19/24 The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) celebrates the historic passage of H.R. 8371, the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act in the U.S. House of Representatives last night with a bipartisan vote of 389-9. This landmark legislation includes Section 301, Gerald’s Law, which addresses a critical gap in benefits impacting seriously-ill veterans and their families receiving hospice care. The story of Gerald “Jerry” Elliott, a U.S. Army veteran, underscores the importance of this legislative achievement. Diagnosed with cancer, Jerry was admitted to his local Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in 2019 before transitioning to VA hospice care at home to be surrounded by his family. After his passing, his family discovered they were ineligible for full burial and funeral financial support because Jerry died outside of a VA facility.

Local veteran supports SSM Health hospice services with generous estate gift Envision, Greater Fond du Lac, WI; 11/20/24 Thanks to a generous $225,000 gift from the estate of William (Bill) Faubel, who passed away peacefully in December 2023 at age 103, the Agnesian HealthCare Foundation will continue its support of SSM Health at Home Hospice services in Fond du Lac and Green Lake. ... “We appreciate the generosity of Bill and his family, for this incredible support that will help us continue to meet the growing need for hospice care in our communities,” according to Kim Laws, Agnesian HealthCare Foundation director of development and interim leader. “Bill was very supportive of the communities where he lived and left an example of selfless giving. We have an outstanding team of caring providers that help our patients and their families through a difficult time guiding them through every step of this final journey. ... “We were very fortunate to have Uncle Bill as part of our family,” Polly says. “He was an extraordinary man. He was very poor growing up and worked hard to earn everything he achieved in life. He was most proud to be a veteran, including being a part of an Old Glory Honor Flight in 2010.

Stewarding loss Stanford Social Innovation Review; by Camille Acey; 11/19/24 - "Winter 2025" What happens when organizations and institutions need to die? And why is this part of the work often overlooked in systems change and social innovation practice? ... Stewarding Loss is a field-building initiative focused on the process of closure, ending, and dismantling as a journey to be designed. Over the course of several years, Stewarding Loss has engaged in a range of activities, from creating “loss circles” as spaces where people anticipating organizational closures can come to share stories and concerns; to conducting interviews with a range of practitioners involved in end-of-life care, including ritual and ceremonial hosts, grief therapists, and death doulas so we could learn how to translate practices across different contexts; to hosting roundtables with philanthropic foundations and speaking at numerous events to allow us to gather insight and feedback regarding ideas and needs for this work; to prototyping a Farewell Fund to learn what type of invitation and application might encourage organizations to become proactive about closing, and what supports might be needed by people on the journey to closure.

People with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) face disproportionate rates of harm in hospital setting  Parkinson's Foundation, New York and Miami; Press Release; 11/18/24 The Parkinson’s Foundation published a new article in the December issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety titled “Protecting Parkinson’s Patients: Hospital Care Standards to Avoid Preventable Harm.” The article identifies sustainable solutions to improve care in the hospital for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and details how these solutions may be generalized to develop a practical, disease-agnostic care model for all hospital and health systems that wish to avoid preventable harm. ... People with PD are at increased risk of hospitalization, with more than 300,000 people with PD hospitalized each year. While hospitalized, people with PD face increased risk of preventable harm, including longer hospital stays and deterioration of PD symptoms. Adverse outcomes range from temporary, such as higher rates of delirium, to permanent damage, including higher mortality.

'My charity wedding dress brought me closer to Mum' BBC, Manchester, United Kingdom; 11/16/24 Like many brides, when Jo Johnson started planning her wedding, she wanted her mother to be an integral part of the day. But as June Kiely had died nine years earlier, she faced a puzzle as to how to bring her into the ceremony, until she realised there was a way of both feeling closer to her mum and honouring those who cared for her in her final days. June Kiely died at the St Ann's Hospice in Little Hulton, Salford, in 2015, and in the run up to getting married, Jo found herself at the charity's bridal and vintage shop in Stockport. The 38-year-old said it was a "magic moment" as she knew instantly it was the place where she would find the perfect dress. Jo said getting her dress from the shop was "a really special way to include my mum but also to give back to the hospice for everything they'd done." She said the hospice had given her mum "incredible care" and as soon as she walked into the shop, she knew she was "doing the right thing."