Literature Review

A woman’s hospice death leads to a police standoff at an Orange homeKBMT-TV (Beaumont, TX)December 2, 2023Orange, TX—SWAT responded to a standoff at a house in Orange after a husband didn’t want his wife’s body be taken away. Around 7 p.m. a call was made about a woman in hospice passing away, according to Orange Police Sergeant Isaac T. Henry III. Soon after a hospice nurse called saying the husband made suicidal and threatening comments to people because he was upset that his wife had passed away, Henry told 12News crew at the scene. When Orange police responded there was a short standoff2. The husband eventually came out of the house and is now going to have a mental evaluation, according to Henry.

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. ~Mahatma GandhiSign up for our free daily newsletters here!UNSUBSCRIBE NOTICE: Hospice & Palliative Care Today is a free subscription email. If you believe you have received this email in error, or if you no longer wish to receive Hospice & Palliative Care Today, please unsubscribe here or reply to this email with the message “Unsubscribe”. Thank you.

UCP Developing Scripted Series Based On ‘The In-Between’ Memoir From Hospice Nurse Hadley VlahosDeadlineDecember 1, 2023The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life’s Final Moments, a book about death, written by hospice nurse Hadley Vlahos is set to be turned into a scripted series. UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, has landed the rights to the project in a competitive situation. In The In-Between, Vlahos recounts the most impactful experiences she’s had with the people she’s worked with—from the woman who never once questioned her faith until she was close to death, to the older man seeing visions of his late daughter, to the young patient who laments that she spent too much of her short life worrying about what others thought of her—while also sharing her own fascinating journey.

New Grief Resources for the HolidaysPress Release 12/3/23Composing Life Out of Loss offering multiple grief resources for individuals and providers.

OIG FY 2022 Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program Annual ReportPress Release 11/14/23OIG publishes the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program Report for Fiscal Year 2022 and posts two enforcement actions. Three hospice actions in this report (download report and search for "hospice").

Ready Pet Go! Meet the 125 lb. dog comforting people in hospice careWKYC-TV (Cleveland, OH)November 29, 2023Strongsville, OH—When your loved one is ready to move on to the other side, you hope they’ll find comfort in a place of peace, serenity, and care. At the Thomas P. Perciak Hospice of Southwest General, there’s someone there to help. His name is Winston. He’s an 8-year-old Bernese mountain dog, about 125 lbs., and is the biggest lover you’ll ever meet.

Let’s expand access to PACE to improve eldercareBy Shawn BloomModern HealthcareDecember 4, 2023... Today, PACE participants are, for the most part, those who receive both Medicare and Medicaid benefits. However, it could act as the desired model of care for millions of Medicare beneficiaries who aren’t eligible for Medicaid. In fact, many impartial experts and think tanks, such as the Milken Institute, the Bipartisan Policy Center, Duke University Margolis Center for Health Policy and AARP’s Public Policy Institute, have cited PACE as a potential solution for the nation’s eldercare crisis, which will only worsen as the baby boomers continue to flood the aging and nursing services infrastructure.[Editor’s Note: The author is President and CEO of the National PACE Association.]

‘It will put us out of business’—Remington pharmacist fights corporate fees, under-paymentsCulpeper (VA) Star-ExponentDecember 1, 2023Remington, VA—A local pharmacist is joining voices calling for reform and oversight of corporate-run “Pharmacy Benefit Managers” (PBMs) he said are straining the historic small-town pharmacy he runs, located on Main Street since 1913, still with its original soda fountain. Travis Hale, PharmD, president of Apothecary Solutions Inc., doing business as Remington Drug Co., said the payment practices of the prescription drug middlemen are responsible for community pharmacies closing at an alarming rate.

Without music, life would be a mistake. ~Friedrich NietzscheSign up for our free daily newsletters here!UNSUBSCRIBE NOTICE: Hospice & Palliative Care Today is a free subscription email. If you believe you have received this email in error, or if you no longer wish to receive Hospice & Palliative Care Today, please unsubscribe here or reply to this email with the message “Unsubscribe”. Thank you.

This grief therapist draws on her own experience with loss to help othersOrange County RegisterNovember 30, 2023Claire Bidwell Smith is no stranger to grief. She lost both of her parents to cancer at a young age—her mother when she was 18, and her father when she was 25. “I entered into my adult life with a lot of grief and was just trying to figure out everything that had happened to me. After my mom died, everybody was like ‘You’ll be fine. You’re an adult, just go forward into your life.’ And I wasn’t fine. It was really, really hard.” ... Based in Santa Monica, Smith initially worked in hospice before starting a private practice as a grief therapist, now facilitating online grief support groups and in-person retreats. And she never stopped writing. Smith has published three nonfiction books about grief; her new book, “Conscious Grieving,” comes out in March 2024.

Humana Partners With CINQCARE To Deliver Home-Based Care To Medicare Advantage MembersHome Health Care NewsNovember 30, 2023Humana Inc. has formed a partnership with CINQCARE, a health care company that delivers care in the home and community. ... As part of the collaboration, the companies will serve Humana’s New York Medicare Advantage members in their homes.

InnovAge Acquires ConcertoCare PACE Programs.Home Health Care NewsDecember 1, 2023InnovAge (Nasdaq: INNV), one of the largest providers of the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) model, is expanding its footprint even further. On Friday, InnovAge announced it is acquiring two PACE programs in California from ConcertoCare, which is also a provider of home care and home-based primary care.[Editor’s Note: To read the InnovAge news release, click here.]