Literature Review

National POLST collaborative announces new Board of Directors and OfficersLinkedIn post; 6/27/24The National POLST Collaborative, a leader in promoting the understanding and use of POLST – a set of portable medical orders for individuals with serious illness or frailty, is proud to announce the election of its new board of directors and officers. New Board of Directors members to the 12-person Board:

Report: Healthcare needs to diversify workforce to get rid of racial inequalities MedPage Today - Public Health & Policy - Equity in Medicine; by Associated Press; 6/26/24 "Inequities are baked into our healthcare system," says one expert. Racial and ethnic inequities in healthcare are found in every state in the U.S. despite the passage of legislation intended to improve health outcomes for minorities and increased awareness of healthcare disparities over the past two decades, according to a new national report released Wednesday. The 300-plus-page document from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine detailed how structural racism and people's surroundings have contributed to worse health outcomes for minorities. It also offers recommendations and solutions to healthcare organizations and the federal government, like a more diverse workforce and adjusting payment systems to make healthcare more affordable.

A little help from your friends... Jennifer Hale, MSN, RN, CHPN, CPHQA little help from your friends is a memorial fund set up for Jennifer Hale's family. If interested, you can read more about it and donate here. Donations accepted 6/30/24 - 7/15/24. ... We recently announced Jennifer Hale unexpectedly died Friday, 6/21/24. Vice President of Quality and Standards at Compassus, former Vice President Clinical Services at Optum Palliative Care and Hospice, and former Executive Director of the Georgia Hospice & Palliative Care Organization, Jennifer was widely known, respected, and loved in the hospice community. We share our condolences with her family, friends, and colleagues. Her obituary is posted here.

NPHI Statement: Hospital notifications to patients of hospice referral optionsNPHI press release; 6/17/24Many hospitals are providing discharged patients with a list of all Medicare-certified hospices in the geographic area in which the patient resides, in the mistaken belief that this is a requirement under the Medicare Conditions of Participation (COPs). Hospitals may be understandably confused by existing hospital CoPs that require such lists to be provided for HH, SNF, IRF and LTCHs. Section 482.43(c)(2) clearly states these provider types and excludes hospices. There is no such requirement in the hospice regulations or law that requires a hospital to provide patients with a list of all hospices in a particular geographic area. [See statement for additional information.]

Families, volunteers share stories of finding peace through hospice Salina Post; by Cristina Janney, Hays Post; 6/29/24 This is a two-part series on hospice care in northwest Kansas. Dalene Juenemann and her father, Dean, had to make the difficult decision to enter hospice care after he was diagnosed with bladder cancer. “He was just such a social guy and someone was in a couple times a week,” she said. “They were checking in on him and it was that security blanket he had.” ... He didn’t want to go through aggressive chemo and he didn’t qualify for a bladder removal because of his age. “He chose quality of life,” she said. "It was that final decision that we are done with everyone wanting a piece of me. I'm just going to enjoy life," she said. Dalene's father, Dean Shearer, was a patient of NWKareS, Hospice of Northwest Kansas, which serves 16 counties from Interstate 70 to the Nebraska border and Trego County to the Colorado border. ... She said the extra care hospice offered allowed her to just be a daughter to her father as he was dying. [Click on the title's link to continue reading stories from families and volunteers at NWKAreS.]

NAHC re-files lawsuit against HHS, CMS over home health cuts Home Health Care News; by Joyce Famakinwa; 6/28/24 The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) hasn’t given up on efforts to push back on Medicare home health payment calculations. NAHC has re-filled its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The lawsuit focuses on the home health PDGM budget neutrality adjustment, which imposed both permanent and temporary calculations with a methodology that NAHC believes is noncompliant with the law. The original lawsuit was filed last summer, and in April the case was dismissed by a federal court in Washington D.C. The case was dismissed on the basis that NAHC did not fully exhaust administrative appeal remedies. ... There are a number of factors that made NAHC decide to re-file the lawsuit, according to [NAHC President, William A.] Dombi. “No. 1, it will be faster,” he said. “No. 2, we are highly likely to get the same judge, as there’s a related litigation standard in an assignment of cases,” he said. One of the biggest factors that heavily contributed to NAHC’s decision was the Supreme Court ruling, which upended the Chevron Doctrine.

Nonprofit that assisted cancer patients donates remaining funds to Hospice of Texarkana Texarkana Gazette, Texarkana, TX; by Gazette Staff; 6/28/24 The Angel Fund Foundation has voted to dissolve as a nonprofit and donate its remaining of approximately $148,000 of funds to Hospice of Texarkana. Founded in 2006 by cancer survivor Beth Morgan, The Angel Fund Foundation helped cancer patients in the community for two decades, according to a news release from Hospice of Texarkana. "We feel fortunate that Beth Morgan and the Angel Fund Foundation Board have chosen Hospice of Texarkana as the recipient of the remaining assets," said Cindy Marsh, Hospice of Texarkana Executive Director. "After meeting with Mrs. Morgan and gaining clarity on her wishes for the dissolution of funds, it seemed like a perfect transition to provide hospice care for cancer patients with those funds," Marsh said.

Factors affecting palliative care collaboration with pain medicine specialists Clinical Pain Advisor; by James Maitlall, MD; 6/27/24 Structured collaboration between physicians working in palliative care (PC) and pain medicine (PM) may increase PC physician referral of seriously ill patients to PM specialists and potentially optimize their care, according to study results published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. ... In a survey study, a multicenter team of investigators explored attitudes and beliefs among US PC physicians regarding PM specialists, as well as factors potentially impacting collaboration between physicians in these 2 areas of practice. ... The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) approved the survey for distribution to 1000 of its physician members, who were selected at random. ... The investigators concluded, “Although we found that PC physicians have highly positive attitudes about the value of PM specialists, referral rates remain low, even for IDDS implantation, which has perhaps the largest body of evidence for patients with complex cancer-associated pain.”  

How the Supreme Court’s Chevron Decision could help stop home health cuts Home Health Care News; by Andrew Donlan; 6/28/24 On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court upended the Chevron doctrine precedent. For home health industry purposes, that means a potentially weakened Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) moving forward. The news comes just two days after the home health proposed payment rule was released, which included significant cuts for the third straight year. Broadly, moving away from the Chevron precedent – usually known as the Chevron doctrine – will mean less regulatory power for government agencies. Government agencies often take their own interpretations of certain laws and statutes, and then act upon those interpretations. ... The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) already filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and CMS over rate cuts in 2023. “In our own analysis, we believe that providers of home health have been underpaid as it relates to budget neutrality,” NAHC President William A. Dombi said when the lawsuit was filed. “At minimum, we would expect to see the rate cuts from 2023, that were permanent readjustments to the base rate, and the one proposed for 2024, along with the temporary adjustments … to go away. The end product of that is that we would have a stable system to deliver home health services to Medicare beneficiaries.”

How 'Human-Kind' AI can reshape your business Forbes; by Mark Cameron; 7/1/24 As AI models mature, their impact on the economy is becoming increasingly profound. They offer unprecedented opportunities for innovation and efficiency. Here's how. ... AI enables traditional businesses to accomplish more with fewer resources. ... As AI begins to take over mundane tasks, the role of the human workforce is evolving. Employees are no longer cogs in the machine—they're becoming value creators. The focus is evolving toward roles that require critical thinking, creativity and emotional intelligence—areas where humans excel, but AI still has limitations. This shift necessitates upskilling and reskilling initiatives to prepare the workforce for new, high-value roles in an AI-driven economy.

Memorial outing raises $15,000 for McLaren Hospice MyFenton.com - tctimes.com; Fenton, MI; 6/28/24 The 27th annual Nancy Streber Memorial Golf Classic held May 11 at Heather Hills Golf Course in Romeo raised more than $15,000 for McLaren Hospice’s end-of-life care services —breaking its fundraising record previously reached in 2023. The event, founded by Dave Streber and his family, honors the memory of his mother, Nancy, and the care her father received as a McLaren patient. In addition to the fundraising milestone, the event hosted 140, making it one of the largest, most successful events in the memorial outing’s history. “We are profoundly grateful for the 27 years of dedication from Dave Streber and his family, as well as the numerous organizations and all of individuals who have contributed to this event and supported McLaren Hospice over the years,” said Cindy Tomlinson, MSN, RN, vice president of hospice at McLaren Health Management Group.

[Four-day workweeks:] A flexibility trend gaining steam in nursing Becker's Clinical Leadership; by Erica Carbajal; 6/26/24 A growing number of health systems are embracing  four-day workweeks for nurse leaders — a strategy that has helped some boost recruitment, retention and staff engagement. Over the past year, the needs and well-being of nurse managers have come into focus, with hospitals and health systems taking a closer look at how to best support them in addition to bedside nurses. Survey findings have indicated nurse managers have a hard time fully disconnecting from work, and they crave much of the same work environment factors that front-line nurses do, such as the ability to take time off when needed and work-life balance support. As such, four-day schedules have increasingly become part of the conversation at many hospitals and health systems. 

Anxiety in late life and serious illness: A podcast with Alex Gamble and Brianna WilliamsonGeriPal [podcast]; by Eric Widera, Alex Smith, Alex Gamble, Brianna Williamson; 6/27/24“Anxiety is a lot like a toddler. It never stops talking, tells you you’re wrong about everything, and wakes you up at 3 a.m.” I’m not sure who wrote this quote, but it feels right to me. We’ve all had anxiety, and probably all recognize that anxiety can be a force of action or growth but can also spiral to quickly take over our lives and our sleep. How, though, do we navigate anxiety and help our patients who may end up in the anxiety spiral that becomes so hard to get out of? On today’s podcast, we’ve invited Alex Gamble and Brianna Williamson to talk to us about anxiety. Alex is a triple-boarded (palliative care, internal medicine, and psychiatry) assistant professor of medicine at Stanford. Brianna is one of UCSF’s palliative care fellows who just completed her psychiatry residency.