Literature Review

Manatee County hospice volunteer celebrates patients' birthdays dressed in costumes Specturm News 9, Manatee County, FL; by Rick Elmhorst; 5/13/24 A Manatee County woman is bringing joy to people in hospice care by celebrating their birthdays. Pam Freas volunteers with Chapters Health Lifepath Hospice by dressing in costumes and visiting patients for their birthdays. She also helps manage the supplies for milestone birthday celebrations, including packing birthday bags full of blankets and pillows. Freas recently visited a young boy named Jackson who was in home hospice care. She dressed as a dinosaur since Jackson loves dinosaurs. Although Jackson has a difficult time communicating, Freas spent time talking with him to brighten his day.

Humana, Aetna likely to lose Medicare Advantage members Modern Healthcare; by Nona Tepper and Lauren Berryman; 5/14/24 Industry heavyweights CVS Health Aetna and Humana foresee Medicare Advantage membership losses next year. Anticipated changes to health plan offerings and benefit design to achieve long-term business profitability could mean losing a significant portion of their Medicare Advantage membership, executives told investors at the Bank of America Securities Healthcare Conference on Tuesday. ... Headed into next year, Aetna may adjust benefits, tighten its prior authorization policies, reassess its provider networks and exit markets, CVS Health Chief Financial Officer Tom Cowhey told investors.  ... [Humana Chief Financial Officer Susan Diamond] anticipates losing about 5% of its 6.1 million Medicare Advantage members, ... Conversely, UnitedHealth Group’s UnitedHealthcare insurance business appears to be better positioned for growth heading into 2025 ... , executives said. UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty said, ... “The thing we don't want is unsustainable ups and downs in our performance in any particular regard. ... You should just expect more of the same from us in terms of what we’re doing.” 

End-of-life doulas’ growing value proposition in hospice Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 5/14/24 Hospices and other health care providers are increasingly recognizing the value proposition of end-of-life doulas. Organizations are taking varied routes to leverage doula’s skills to improve quality. End-of-life doulas support patients and their families in a number of broad and diverse ways, according to Erin Collins, program director of The Peaceful Presence Project. Collins is also a certified hospice and palliative care nurse and end-of-life doula. She serves as vice-chair of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s (NHPCO) End-of-Life Doula Advisory Council. Editor's Note: Caution. What training, professional experience, credentials, referrals, and other qualifications does the individual, end-of-life care doula bring? Not bring? What gaps in your services (for which a doula might be called) indicate that your organization needs to "step up" your community education, caregiver/family resources, psychosocial support, and volunteer presence?

When families fight over a relative with dementia, it’s time to call in the mediator The New York Times; by Paula Span; 5/13/24 Trained negotiators can help families struggling with vexing elder-care issues.  The four adult children were in agreement. Their father, William Curry, a retired electrical engineer and business executive, was sinking deeper into dementia. ... [But their mother] remained determined to continue caring for her 81-year-old husband at home, despite the increasing toll on her own health. ... As the weeks passed, “we were really at an impasse,” [a daughter] said. “Do you override your mother?” ...  [Increasingly,] families seek elder mediation privately, before disputes land in court and imperil or destroy family relationships. [Continue reading for descriptions of how mediation differs from arbitration, from family therapy, and for cautions about this being "a fairly new field with no nationwide certification or licensing requirements."]Editor's Notes: Executive leaders, what community education and resources are you providing for Advance Directives? What family systems education and and problem-solving are you providing for your interdisciplinary team members and grief counselors? Family conflicts are inherent--in some form or fashion--with almost anyone needing dementia care, especially when paired with palliative or hospice care. (If in doubt, ask your seasoned, front-line professionals.)

Nurses’ Union reaches labor agreement with PeaceHealth for hospice, home health workers Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 5/14/24 After more than a year of negotiations, the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) labor union has reached an agreement with PeaceHealth. Priorities among the hospice and home nurses include wage increases, raising safety standards, ensuring affordable and accessible home health care delivery, equitable pay protection and addressing clinical staffing crises by increasing recruitment and retention of skilled caregivers. 

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” — Socrates, philosopher

Making AI actionable in healthcare – a high-level guide Becker's Hospital Review; by Calum Yacoubian, MD, Director Healthcare AI Strategy, IQVIA; 5/14/24 Never has there been more interest and excitement around the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare. The advent of Generative AI and LLMs, popularized by OpenAI with ChatGPT, has opened many people’s eyes to what might be possible. Yet, the translation of this promise to patient impact is only in its infancy, and while it is a path with huge potential, as healthcare professionals, we must tread carefully and responsibly. In this article, we discuss the importance of the ecosystem in which healthcare AI must exist, to be successful. That ecosystem is made up of people, process, and technology.

End of life outcomes following Comfort Care Orders: A single center experience The American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care; by Matthew Tucker, Dayna Hovern, John Liantonion, Elizabeth Collins, Adam F Binder; 5/13/24 Conclusions: The majority of patients placed on comfort care died during their hospitalization demonstrating a real need for comprehensive end of life care and immediate hospice services. For those discharged with hospice services, they spent an excessive amount of time in the hospital waiting for services to be arranged.

Comprehensive Care in South Valparaiso: Clinicl bridges urgent and palliative needs ABNewsWire; 5/14/24 ... South Valparaiso – Immediate & Urgent Care Clinic’s expansion into palliative care signifies a positive step towards a more comprehensive healthcare landscape in South Valparaiso. Here’s a look at some potential implications of this development:

Upskilling and retraining for talent innovation in the AI ​​era Tech Trends Post; 5/13/24 According to a report from the IBM Institute for Business Value, more than 60% of executives say generative AI will disrupt the way their organizations design customer and employee experiences. Employees must change to meet these demands. Many are turning to AI upskilling – the act of providing the workforce with the skills and training to use AI to do their jobs. ... A 2024 Gallup poll found that about 25% of workers worry that their jobs could become obsolete due to AI. ... [This article outlines the following:]

“Mental wellbeing is as important as physical wellbeing – both are interconnected” Marie Curie Hospice; by Anne Finucane, Marie Curie Senior Research Fellow, and David Gillanders, Senior Lecturer, Clinical Psychology, The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom; 5/13/24 At least one in every four people living with a terminal diagnosis will experience depression, anxiety, adjustment disorder or low mood. Many more will experience distress because of deteriorating health and related uncertainty. Feelings of hopelessness, discouragement and even a desire for hastened death can occur. People have reported that psychological support helps them develop better coping strategies, helps them be more open to their situation and improves communication with their families and those involved in their care.Editor's Note: Executive leaders, what value do you give to your interdisciplinary team members and their contributions to patients' mental/emotional care? What advocacy, support and recognition do you have for your social workers, chaplains, counselors? What mental wellbeing measures do your employees experiences throughout your organization--and more directly--from your leadership with them? Perhaps it's time to "take the pulse" of your culture's mental wellbeing.

Hospice remains underserved by Medicare Advantage, data showsBioMedWire; 5/13/24 While the Medicare Advantage space grows bigger, it is difficult for regulators and the medical industry to decide how best to integrate hospice into MA programs. This is a major concern because hospice care is the only segment of the healthcare sector that isn’t catered for in Medicare Advantage (MA). ... Almost 50% of all individuals (1.7 million) on MA programs that succumbed to their terminal illnesses in 2022 were recipients of hospice services. ... 

CMS extends Medicaid waivers to 2025 Becker's Payer Issues; by Rylee Wilson; 5/13/24 CMS will extend flexibilities designed to help states keep more eligible individuals enrolled in Medicaid through June 2025. The waivers, previously set to expire at the end of 2024, will be extended for six more months, Daniel Tsai, deputy CMS administrator and director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP services, wrote in a May 9 memo to states. Nearly all states were expected to complete the unwinding process by June 2024, Mr. Tsai wrote, but because several states took extension waivers from CMS, several states will continue renewals past June.