Literature Review

Widespread health care disparities revealed: Hardships for minority kids start at birthUSA Today, by Adrianna Rodriguez; 1/18/24Black and Hispanic children receive universally worse medical care than their white peers, starting from the moment they’re born and spanning across all specialties, according to a comprehensive five-year review. ... They found widespread racial and ethnic disparities in care, treatment and health outcomes across all pediatric specialties, including neonatology, primary care, emergency medicine, critical care, surgery, mental health, developmental disabilities, endocrinology and palliative, or end-of-life, care, ...

Interventions performed in children with immunocompromised conditions in the pediatric intensive care unit within 48 hours of deathJ Palliat Med, by Anna Kegel, Jason Espinoza, April Rahrig, Tina Schade-Wills, Courtney M Rowan; 1/17/24Conclusions: Children in the PICU with underlying immunocompromised conditions frequently receive interventions within the 48-hour period preceding death. Palliative care involvement was associated with fewer radiographic studies and fewer occurrences of CPR. The impact of interventions on the dying experience warrants further investigation.

Predictive analytics in action: How machine learning is driving successful outcomes for value-based end of life programsSenior Housing News, by Sophie Knoelke; 1/17/24Based on a discussion with Jordan Holland and Mark Bailes of VNS HealthHolland: "We are using predictive analytics to identify patients that are in that end-of-life stage, and then intervening on those patients earlier through a palliative-centric model. We take a full view of an individual’s health across the continuum. Then, we identify what the right clinical model is for their individual situation -the technologies, the analytics to help successfully deploy that model."

KKR-backed BrightSpring targets $3 billion valuation for long-awaited US IPOReuters; 1/17/24KKR-backed BrightSpring Health Services set a target of an around $3.01 billion valuation on Wednesday for its long-awaited initial public offering in the United States. The company, which caters to patients facing complex or chronic medical conditions, is moving towards a listing after previously pursuing it in 2021.

Congressional advisors grapple with Medicare Advantage data that reveals plenty on excess, but not much on accessMcKnight's Long-Term Care News, by Kimberly Marselas; 1/16/24Medicare Advantage risk scores continue to rise, inflating payments to the private plans that far exceed their actual costs, staff for a Congressional advisory commission warned members Friday. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services uses risk scores, based on patient demographics and their needs, to establish payments to plans during each bid season. 

Penn Medicine provides parents tools to grieve and heal after lossPenn Medicine News, by Kim Maialetti; 1/11/24Perinatal loss is not uncommon in the United States. According to the Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance, 30 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage and 21,000 babies are stillborn each year. Additionally, more than three of every 1,000 babies born die before 28 days of life and more than five of every 1,000 die before their first birthday.

US Senate launches investigation of assisted living after lay media reports about safety, staffing, pricingMcKnight's Senior Living, by Kimberly Bonvissuto; 1/17/24The US Senate Special Committee on Aging is launching a review of the assisted living industry following recent articles in the Washington Post, which reported on the deaths of residents who wandered from communities, as well as the New York Times and KFF, which scrutinized an industry pricing structure that adds fees on top of basic charges to cover additional services, as well as rate increases and the for-profit status of most providers.

Lions fan in hospice care dyes hair Honolulu Blue to support the teamABC 12 News WJRT, Saginaw Townshiop, MI, by Terry Camp; 1/17/24... Larry Benjamin, 83, has entered hospice care, but this Lions season and now the playoff win has given him a lot of joy. He wants everyone to get behind the Lions, and his show of support has gone viral.

Substance use disorder in aging and serious illnessGeriPal podcast with Eric Widera, Alex Smith, Katie Fitzgerald Jones, Jessica Merlin, Devon Check; 1/18/24The CDC’s Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain excludes those undergoing cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care. In doing so, it seems to give the impression that pain seen in cancer is inherently different than pain seen in other conditions and that those with cancer may not have the same risk for opioid use disorder as compared to other conditions.

Does morphine speed up death at the end of life? What we knowHealthDigest, by Jennifer Anandanayagam; 1/17/24... [Hospice care workers often hear a common concern], if giving morphine to your dying loved actually brings about their death sooner.Quotes from Elisabeth Smith, Hospice of the Chesapeake's Director of Education and Emergency Management

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.  -  Albert Camus

Increasing longevity, decreasing health quality: A close look at American health trendsBNN, by Ayesha Mumtaz; 1/16/24Recent data paints a concerning picture of Americans’ health despite an increase in longevity. While people are living longer, the quality of their health during these extended years is deteriorating.