Literature Review

Hope in oncology: Where art and science collide Medscape; by Sharon Worcester, MA; 6/12/24 Carlos, a 21-year-old, laid in a hospital bed, barely clinging to life. Following a stem cell transplant for leukemia, Carlos had developed a life-threatening case of graft-vs-host disease. But Carlos' mother had faith. "I have hope things will get better," she said, via interpreter, to Richard Leiter, MD, a palliative care doctor in training at that time. "I hope they will," Leiter told her. "I should have stopped there," said Leiter, recounting an early-career lesson on hope during the ASCO Voices session at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2024 annual meeting. "But in my eagerness to show my attending and myself that I could handle this conversation, I kept going, mistakenly." ... Carlos' mother looked Leiter in the eye. "You want him to die," she said. ...Editor's Note: Click on the title's link to continue reading this insightful reflection and discussion about the importance of "hope." Engage your oncology/palliative/hospice chaplains (hopefully CPE trained and Board Certified) with your medical team members to explore this core belief in "hope." Alert: AI referrals for palliative and hospice care are increasing exponentially. Clinicians must be sensitive to the human dimensions and dynamics of "hope" (which shift and change), and not be driven just by technological data.

Prisma uses VR tech to bring outdoors to hospice patients UpstateToday.com, Seneca, SC; by Andrea Kelley; 6/8/24 Years ago, Lisa Dwiggins headed out West to visit her father, Bobby Finch. They hopped on his motorcycle — a Harley Davidson — and wound through the canyons, taking in the view. Thanks to a new virtual reality program at Prisma Health Hospice of the Foothills, Dwiggins and Finch were able to visit those places again — together. ... “Those were areas Dad talked about over the years,” Dwiggins told The Journal. “He lived in Las Vegas for over 30 years, rode his Harley all through the canyons and up along the coast, and talked about the sunsets at Huntington Beach. It’s been 6 years since Dad has been back there, and he has been trying to get back to visit but his health prevented him to getting back. This program at least allowed him to reminisce the good times he had.” The experience was made even more special because with Tandem VR, Dwiggins could join Finch.

Got questions about Medicare hospice services? Here are some answers Forbes; by Diane Omdahl; 6/11/24 Learning about services that Medicare covers, and their cost, is an important discussion topic for Medicare beneficiaries. However, there is one subject that rarely comes up: hospice, end-of-life care for the terminally ill. ... Perhaps a brief Q&A can plant the seed so those who may face an end-of-life situation in the future will know that hospice can help. 

NPHI: Increase scrutiny of PE hospice transactions Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 6/11/24 Federal regulators should increase scrutiny of private equity activity in the hospice space, according to the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI). NPHI is a membership organization comprising more than 100 nonprofit, community-integrated hospice and palliative care providers from 38 states and the District of Columbia. The organization recently submitted comments in response to a Request for Information from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). 

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. - Arthur Ashe

WorldView announces Referral AI, the most accurate referral classification platform to increase home health and hospice revenue Investors Observer; by PR Newswire; 6/10/24 WorldView , a leading provider of integrated healthcare technology to the top home health and hospice EHR/EMR platforms, today announced the upcoming launch of Referral AI, an enhancement to automate intake referrals using a custom AI/ML model built specific for the healthcare industry. ... Home health and hospice agencies receive many forms of electronic documents in their inbox, including referrals for new patient service. Referrals must be acted on quickly, but with documents being dozens of pages, they often sit unread or, worse, are missed or overlooked. Over time, the referral can become invalid, resulting in lost revenue for the agency and posing a risk of delayed service for patients.

AI in healthcare – Enhancing treatment plans, engaging patients, and impacting patient outcomes Healthcare IT Today; by Grayson Miller; 6/10/24 A lot of the buzz around AI is about the potential that it holds. We talk a lot about how different AI applications and tools could save us time or how they could improve the patient experience. But what is it actively doing to the world of healthcare? In order to find out, we reached out to our incredible Healthcare IT Today Community to ask them – how is artificial intelligence being utilized to enhance treatment planning, engage patients at scale, and what impact is it having on patient outcomes? The following are their answers. ... [Click on the title's link to read more.]

Navigating Aging: New help for dealing with aggression in people with dementia Northern Kentucky Tribune; by Judith Graham, KFF Health News; 6/9/24Caring for older adults with dementia is stressful, especially when they become physically or verbally aggressive, wander away from home, develop paranoia or hallucinations, engage in inappropriate or repetitive behaviors, or refuse to let caregivers help them. Upward of 95% of patients experience these neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia, which tend to fluctuate over time and vary in intensity. They’re the primary reasons people with dementia end up in assisted living facilities or nursing homes. At some point, families and friends trying to help at home simply can’t manage. “When people think about dementia, they usually think about forgetfulness and memory impairment,” said Mary Blazek, director of the geriatric psychiatry clinic at the University of Michigan. “But it’s behavioral and psychological disturbances that are most disruptive to patients’ and caregivers’ lives.”

3,000+ nurses at 6 Providence facilities to strikeBecker's Hospital Review; by Kelly Gooch; 6/10/24 Members of the Oregon Nurses Association are set to begin a three-day strike June 18 at six Providence facilities, in what the union deems the largest nurses' strike in the state's history. The union represents more than 3,000 nurses at the following facilities, according to an ONA news release:

Addus to buy Gentiva’s personal care assets for $350 million Home Health Care News; by Andrew Donlan; 6/10/24 Addus HomeCare Corp. is set to acquire Gentiva’s personal care assets for about $350 million.Those assets amount to over 16,000 home care patients per day, in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Addus – which just left the state of New York – will fund the acquisition through its existing revolving credit facility. “We believe this acquisition is a great strategic fit for Addus, and we are excited about the opportunity to expand our personal care market coverage in seven states, including Texas and Missouri, which are new markets for Addus,” Addus CEO Dirk Allison said. ... Addus currently provides home care, home health care and hospice services to over 49,000 consumers through 214 locations spanning 22 states.

How to choose the right hospice care - Brain & Life Magazine Brain & Life; by Hallie Levine; June/July 2024 Hospice care is designed to help patients die with dignity and provide support to their families. These tips can help ensure it does. ... [Case study examples follow.] In hospice, “the focus shifts from treating the disease to managing symptoms and maintaining quality of life,” says James Gordon, MD, FAAN, a neurologist and retired hospice and palliative care expert at the University of Washington in Seattle. “Patients and their families often get to a point where they ask themselves if the cure is causing more suffering than it's worth,” Dr. Gordon says. “If they are close to the end of life, it's often time for hospice.”Editor's Note: We chose this article because its source, Brain & Life Magazine. This can be an excellent disease-specific resource for your serious illness, palliative, hospice, and bereavement team members. "Brain & Life is powered by more than 40,000 neurologists worldwide who are committed to keeping you and your family better informed." Visit its "Disorders A-Z: Neurologic Disorders Resource Center (brainandlife.org)." 

Haven Hospice team members win three Florida Hospice and Palliative Care Association awardsPress release; 6/5/24Gainesville, FL: Three Haven Hospice team members were awarded with Florida Hospice and Palliative Care Association (FHPCA) Awards of Excellence at the 2024 FHPCA 39th Forum in Orlando, Florida.

Governor on hand for PACE openingNews-ExpressKy, Pikeville, KY; by Terry L. May; 6/7/24Mountain View PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) was created to help adults 55 years old and older with complex care needs to avoid nursing homes and to receive care and services necessary to help them be safe, comfortable, and healthy while maintaining a more independent lifestyle, Mountain View PACE Medical Director Dr. James Rummel Jr. said. ... “For those of us who have aging parents, we see this cycle of people who are having a hard time living well at home so they tend to do this circle of home to the ER to the hospital to the nursing home for rehab then back home and it keeps repeating.” ... “We are not trying to replace anybody,” Rummel said. “We are trying to augment the system to fill the gaps. We are a niche type of healthcare system.” ... “What a great day in Pikeville and Pike County,” Governor Beshear said. “How we treat our seniors says something about us and our values as a people."