Literature Review

Medicare Program; FY 2025 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update, Hospice Conditions of Participation Updates, and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements Federal Register; A Proposed Rule by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on 4/4/24This document has a comment period that ends in 53 days, 5/28/24.This proposed rule would update the hospice wage index, payment rates, and aggregate cap amount for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. This rule proposes changes to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program. This rule also proposes to adopt the most recent Office of Management and Budget statistical area delineations, which would change the hospice wage index. This rule proposes to clarify current policy related to the “election statement” and the “notice of election”, as well as to add clarifying language regarding hospice certification. Finally, this rulemaking solicits comments regarding potential implementation of a separate payment mechanism to account for high intensity palliative care services.

Jamestown Regional Medical Center employees give over $36K to medical center’s mission The Jamestown Sun; 4/4/24 Jamestown Regional Medical Center employees came together this year to raise over $36,000 through the annual Employee Giving Campaign. The funds raised go directly to the JRMC Foundation, which benefits the community through new equipment, staff training and patient comfort items. onations support cancer care, hospice, equipment and technology, infant loss and bereavement, Family BirthPlace, the Employee Support Fund, Kala's Korner and the Greater JRMC Fund ...

The iconic stethoscope is getting a 21st century makeoverManaged Healthcare Executive, by Peter Wehrwein; 4/4/24 Two years ago, a pair of New Zealand physicians wrote an opinion piece in a peer-reviewed journal of the Royal Australasian of Physicians about point-of-care ultrasound. The gist of their argument was that ultrasound ought to be used more routinely to detect various heart and lung conditions. The somewhat cheeky title of that article is “Update on Echocardiography: Do We Still Need a Stethoscope?” Jason Bellet has spent more than a decade making pretty much the opposite case: Not only do healthcare professionals still need a stethoscope, they need a vastly improved, 21st century version that harnesses digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI).

CMS: Contract Year 2025 Medicare Advantage and Part D Final Rule (CMS-4205-F)CMS, Medicare Part D, Policy; 4/4/24On April 4, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that revises the Medicare Advantage Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program (Medicare Part D), Medicare Cost Plan Program, Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), and Health Information Technology Standards and Implementation Specifications. Additionally, this final rule addresses several key provisions that remain from the CY 2024 Medicare Advantage and Part D proposed rule, CMS-4201-P, published on December 14, 2022. ... This fact sheet discusses the major provisions of the 2025 final rule which can be downloaded here: https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2024-07105/medicare-program-medicare-advantage-and-the-medicare-prescription-drug-benefit-program-for-contract

Telehealth effective in supporting rural caregivers Hospice News, by Jim Parker; 4/3/24Palliative care delivered via telehealth is effective at improving access to caregiver support. Moreover, these services can also be cost-effective, recent research has found. ... “[Technology-enhanced transitional palliative care] is a feasible, low cost and sustainable strategy to enhance [family caregiver] support in rural areas,” researches indicated in the study. “Potential reimbursement mechanisms are available to offset the costs to the health system for providing transitional palliative care to caregivers of patients recently hospitalized.”

Kaiser closes Geisinger Health acquisition, forming Risant Health Modern Healthcare, by Caroline Hudson; 4/2/24Kaiser Permanente has acquired Geisinger Health and folded it into Risant Health, a new nonprofit formed to create a national value-based care network.

Several LMHPCO Board of Directors and Education Committee members, as well as LMHPCO Staff visited (this past week) with the Angola Hospice Volunteers and their Staff.  This was the first such meeting post-COVID. An incredible day with an incredible hospice program and LMHPCO is grateful to Tonia Faust (the Angola Hospice Nurse/Volunteer Coordinator and an LMHPCO Education Committee Member) for making this visit possible.

Hospice wedding a declaration of love in the face of medical challenge Penticton Western News, by Alistair Taylor; 4/4/24 The essence of hospice philosophy – emphasizing the significance of cherishing every moment and embracing life to the fullest – was exemplified by the touching and beautiful wedding of Sean Adelberg and Mary Davidson at Campbell River’s Hospice House on Tuesday, April 2. ... “This journey to the altar accompanies Mary’s heroic battle with stage 4 Glioblastoma—an incurable brain cancer. Despite the odds, we’re seizing this incredible chance to celebrate our love,” Adelberg said.

Malnutrition, thyroid cancer result in high rates of death among home care, hospice patients, studies finds McKnights Home Care, by Adam Healy; 4/5/24 Two separate studies analyzing disparities in patients’ place of death revealed high death rates related to malnutrition and thyroid cancer among patients receiving care at home and in hospice. The first study, “Disparities in Place of Death Among Malnourished Individuals in the United States,” found that more than 31,000 malnutrition-related deaths occurred among home care and hospice patients between 1999 and 2020. ... Another study, “Disparities in the Place of Death for Patients With Malignant Neoplasms of the Thyroid Gland,” discovered that roughly half of all patients who died of thyroid cancer between 1999 and 2020 did so in home care or hospice.

Proposed hospice rule offers key quality improvement changes, experts offer McKnights Home Care, by Adam Healy; 4/4/24While the recently proposed 2025 hospice payment update included a payment adjustment that stakeholders have perceived as inadequate, it also introduced valuable new tools to address hospice quality and more, according to industry regulatory experts. One of the proposed rule’s most enticing features is the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool, which next year will replace the current Hospice Item Set (HIS) measurement system used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to track hospice quality.

Lutheran Senior Services/Diakon agreement forms one of largest US nonprofit LTC organizations McKnights Senior Living, by Kathleen Steele Gaivin; 3/29/24 Diakon Senior Living operations and its four continuing care retirement / life plan communities will become part of Lutheran Senior Services under an agreement ... that the organizations say will create one of the largest nonprofit senior living and care organizations in the country. The transaction is pending regulatory approvals and is expected to close this summer.

Home care providers hail bill establishing standard classification for direct support workers McKnights Home Care, by Adam Healy; 4/3/24 The Senate last week passed legislation that would address the dire shortage of direct support workers with the establishment of a classification to help stakeholders collect workforce data. Specifically, if signed into law, the Recognizing the Role of Direct Support Professionals Act would require the Office of Management and Budget to consider establishing a standard occupational classification (SOC) for direct support professionals (DSPs). This classification would make it easier for policymakers to gather useful data about these workers and help them better address critical workforce challenges.

Bereaved Parent Support Study: Seeking Participants Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center/University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Cancer, St. Jude Children's Hospital, and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; 4/2/24This program is offered as a research study examining three types of support for bereaved parents who have lost a child to cancer. This is a National Institutes of Health-funded trial taking place at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center/University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, St. Jude Children's Hospital, and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; however, families need not have received care from one of these institutions. ... For those assigned to receive counseling, services will be provided through videoconferencing, and all study activities can be completed from the participant’s home. ... There will be no charge for any support offered through the study. ... [Click on the title's link for more information.] Editor's Note: If your hospice does not have bereavement services tailored to the needs of parents who have lost a child, consider this opportunity for free support from these reputable sources. Click on the title's link for eligibility requirements and descriptions.