Literature Review

Mercy Health Home Care and Hospice by Compassus to provide care in Greater Lima Area HometownStations.com - ABC, FOX, NBC, CBS, Lima, OH; by Mercy Health - St. Rita's; 9/23/24 The Mercy Health Home Care and Hospice programs serving the greater Lima, Ohio, area, announced a new name today: Mercy Health Home Care and Hospice by Compassus. The name change reflects a joint venture partnership between Bon Secours Mercy Health, the fifth-largest Catholic health system in the U.S., and Compassus, a leading national provider of integrated home-based health care services, finalized earlier this year. Locations in Lima formerly managed by Mercy Health will be rebranded under the joint venture and managed by Compassus.

Companies committed to DEI but may talk about it differently: surveyMcKnight's Senior Living; by Kathleen Steele Gaivin; 9/19/24Social impact is a growing corporate strategy, even if it isn’t talked about, according to the results of a survey by the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals and YourCause from Blackbaud. “The 2024 results show how the current landscape of corporate social impact is both dynamic and demanding, reflecting a field that is a priority to key stakeholders, including employees, customers, investors and community,” according to ACCP, which surveyed 125 companies in April. Ninety-six percent of the companies reported a continued commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives... DEI has become a polarizing political issue this year, according to ACCP. That doesn’t mean that companies are backing away from their commitments, but they may be changing the way they talk about DEI.Publisher's note: The Louisiana ~ Mississippi Hospice & Palliative Care Organization, a Hospice & Palliative Care Today sponsor, has a Health Disparities and Inequities Taskforce that has completed, among several other things, a Standards of Excellence certification process around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Fraud losses among older adults reached $3.4 billion last yearMcKnight's Senior Living; by Kimberly Bonvissuto; 9/20/24The types of scams being reported to the federal government haven’t changed much from last year, but losses are on the rise, with the Federal Trade Commission reporting $10 billion in losses to consumers in 2023, $1 billion more than 2022 losses and the highest losses ever reported, according to a new fraud book. During a Thursday hearing on fighting fraud held by the Senate Special Committee on Aging, US Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), committee chairman, released the group’s ninth annual fraud book, “Fighting Fraud: Scams to Watch Out For,” capturing the most common scams targeting older adults and resources to protect against fraud reported to various sources. FBI data show that fraud losses among older adults reached $3.4 billion in 2023, Casey said.

From pigs to payouts, weighing solutions for the US kidney shortageHealthcare Brew; by Caroline Catherman; 9/18/24About one out of every 20 people waiting for a kidney transplant die each year, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Scientists, policymakers, and other experts are scrambling to find a solution. Kidneys are currently the most needed organ in the country, and an ongoing crisis has left tens of thousands in limbo. As of September, nearly 90,000 people in the US are waiting for kidneys, but only around 27,000 transplants were performed in 2024, according to data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).Publisher's note: Hospice Analytics, a Hospice & Palliative Care Today sponsor, posted this blog and has given presentations on opportunities and challenges for hospices to honor patient wishes regarding organ and tissue donation.

Financial pressures shut down 2 hospice agencies Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 9/20/24 A hospital-based hospice program in Kansas is closing its doors, as is the Visiting Nurses Association of Philadelphia. Holton Community Hospital (HCH) will shut down its home health and hospice department effective December 31st. A range of issues contributed to the decision to end the program, including reimbursement pressures on its home health business and the ascendance of Medicare Advantage, which often pays at a lower rate than traditional Medicare. The Holton, Kansas-based hospital also cited increased competition in its local community as a reason for the closure. ... The organization is working with other local providers to ensure continuity of care for its home health and hospice patients. Meanwhile in Pennsylvania, the Visiting Nurses Association of Philadelphia is also closing. The 138-year-old institution will cease operations on Oct. 28. It is a provider of hospice, home health and palliative care services.Editor's note: For more information about the VNA in Philadelphia, see the article we posted on 9/18/24, After 138 years, the Visiting Nurses Association of Greater Philadelphia will shut down all health care services next month.

New revised Medicaid Fraud Control Unit performance standardsOIG press release on X; 9/19/24HHS-OIG published revised Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) performance standards. The standards provide helpful guidance to MFCUs in their operations and assist HHS-OIG in overseeing MFCUs. Read the performance standards here: https://direc.to/fj2o. 

CMS revises instructions for AOs conducting initial certification surveysNAHC Report; 9/20/24... The revision clarifies initial certification processes for providers/suppliers seeking deemed status via a CMS-approved Accrediting Organization (AO). Specifically, for home health and hospice providers, the AO must not conduct an initial survey until the state agency has provided approval to the AO.Publisher's notes: 1) NAHC article may require member login; 2) CMS Admin Info: 24-22-ALL posted here.

New red flags emerge in hospice UPIC auditing Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 9/20/24 Unified Program Integrity Contractor (UPIC) auditors are taking a sharper look at nursing home room-and-board for hospice patients. Hospices have increasingly faced more regulatory scrutiny in recent years amid rising program integrity concerns, including ramped up UPIC audits, among various others. These audits are designed to instill oversight measures aimed at safeguarding against bad actors in the hospice industry. Regulators have been zeroing in around hospices’ data when it comes to patient interviews and Medicaid skilled nursing room-and-board payments, among other aspects of care delivery. These data could give UPIC auditors clues as to potential malfeasance. However, auditors’ data extrapolation methodology is flawed and poses risks for quality hospice providers, according to Bryan Nowicki, partner at the law firm Husch Blackwell.

Wind phones help the bereaved deal with death, loss and grief − a clinical social worker explains the vital role of the old-fashioned rotary phone The Conversation; by Taryn Lindhorst; 9/20/24 My mother died in my home in hospice in 2020, on the day my state of Washington went into COVID-19 lockdown. Her body was taken away, but none of the usual touchstones for grief were available to our family. ... As a clinical social worker and health scholar with 40 years of experience in end-of-life care and bereavement, I knew that I needed some way to tend to my grief for my mother. While in lockdown, I began looking for resources to help me. Then I heard about the wind phone. What is a wind phone? At its simplest, a wind phone is a rotary or push-button phone located in a secluded spot in nature, usually within a booth-type structure and often next to a chair or bench. The phone line is disconnected. People use the wind phone to “call” and have a one-way conversation with deceased loved ones. Here they can say the things left unsaid. Wind phones offer a setting for the person to tell the story of their grief, to reminiscence and to continue to connect to the person who is gone. For many, it is a deeply moving, life-affirming experience. About 200 wind phones are scattered throughout the United States. Editor's note: This creative tool is similar to common clinical tools of writing a letter to the deceased person, and the "Empty Chair" technique. Caution: This should never be used as a gimmick. This can be terribly confusing and upsetting for persons with dementia, or supportive if used with professional sensitivity for the patient's awareness and experience. For persons with dementia, be familiar with the ground-breaking "Validation Therapy" techniques by Naomi Feil. 

Why CenterWell is moving into Walmart Becker's Payer Issues; by Rylee Wilson; 9/17/24 Primary care clinics focusing mainly on older adults are more likely to serve Black patients and those dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, a study from Humana found.  The study, published in Health Affairs in September, studied the outcomes of older adult-focused primary care organizations and found the organizations tend to enter and serve historically more disadvantaged communities. The authors defined such organizations as reimbursed predominantly through population-based payment arrangements and serving mostly older adults with Medicare. Humana's CenterWell is one such organization, alongside Oak Street Health and One Medical Seniors. CenterWell is expanding, with plans to enter three new markets in 2024. The company aims to add 30 to 50 new centers per year through 2025 and will also open clinics at 23 former Walmart Health sites.

Guidelines for supporting the dying and their families Psychiatric Times; by Ken Druck, PhD; 9/19/24 There are few subjects that most of us, including those who work in mental health, avoid more than death and dying. Meeting the needs of the dying and their families requires a deep and clear understanding of competent and compassionate care for health care professionals and caregivers. Since the death of my 21-year-old daughter several decades ago, I have had the honor and privilege of helping countless individuals, families, and communities that have suffered losses. I have also been given the opportunity to teach and train mental health professionals and developed several programs and guidelines for supporting the dying and their families. My top 7 guidelines to share with patients and their families are as follows:

CVS' Oak Street Health to pay $60M to settle Medicare Advantage kickback allegations Becker's Health IT; by Naomi Diaz; 9/19/24 CVS subsidiary Oak Street Health has agreed to pay $60 million to settle accusations that it violated the False Claims Act by offering kickbacks to third-party insurance agents in return for referring older adults to its primary care clinics. ... The settlement addresses allegations that, between September 2020 and December 2022, Oak Street Health knowingly submitted false claims to Medicare by offering illegal payments to agents, violating the Anti-Kickback Statute. CVS acquired Oak Street Health for $10.6 billion in May 2023. 

Ascension posts $1.8B annual loss; liquidity 'remains strong,' CFO says Becker's Hospital CFO Report; by Alan Condon; 9/18/24 St.Louis-based Ascension reported a $79 million operating loss (-0.3% margin) for the 10 months ending April 30, a substantial improvement on the $1.2 billion operating loss in the previous 10-month period. The results include $402 million in one-time, non-cash write-downs and non-recurring losses. In May and June 2024, operations were hampered by the May ransomware attack, resulting in reduced revenues from the associated business interruption along with costs incurred to address the issues and other business-related expenses. Despite this incident, Ascension drove a $1.2 billion operational improvement year over year for the 10 months ending April 30. The 136-hospital system's economic improvement plans focused on volume growth, rates and pricing, and cost levers.