Literature Review

The identity dilemma: Navigating rebranding decisions in home health M&A Home Health Care News, by Patrick Filbin; 3/14/24 ... While some companies swiftly integrate acquired businesses into their brand and splash their logo, marketing materials and likeness on the newly acquired assets, others opt to maintain the selling company’s identity. In home-based care, the decision to “rebrand or retain” takes into account a number of factors, sources told Home Health Care News. They include operational efficiency, patient/client retention, market positioning and more.

How the analytics of care can balance workforce capacity MedCity News, by Derek Streat; 3/19/24 U.S. healthcare is experiencing a supply and demand crisis as it races to keep pace with an aging population amidst a workforce shortage and mounting financial pressures. And the situation appears unlikely to improve anytime soon. In fact, recent projections anticipate a shortfall of 139,000 physicians in the next decade, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. One limiting factor preventing the efficient management of workforce resources is a lack of data interoperability. ... 

Hospice group pushes for clarity in N.Y. state budget as some warm to for-profit care Spectrum News 1; by Susan Arbetter; 3/19/24 New York state has the lowest utilization of hospice in the country, which can be attributed to several factors, including low health literacy rates. But the state’s recent progress in support of end-of-life care may be threatened by something even more insidious: corporate greed. To investigate that issue nationally, a joint request for information was issued by the federal Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Trade Commission into private equity-backed health care and its impact on quality. Yet despite dire warnings, New York state is slowly opening the door to for-profit, private equity-backed hospice care. 

CAHPS Hospice Survey - Quality Assurance Guidelines V10.0: Technical Corrections and Clarifications, March 2024 HospiceCahpsSurvey.org; 3/20/24Subsequent to the release of the CAHPS Hospice Survey Quality Assurance Guidelines V10.0 (QAG V10.0), it has been determined that there is a specific content item that requires correction, addition and/or further clarification. The protocol listed in this document replace the previous release of the content in the CAHPS Hospice Survey Quality Assurance Guidelines V10.0. The items are identified [in the pdf available at the title's link].

Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts. ~Charles Dickens

MedPAC releases March 2024 report on Medicare payment policy CMS MedPAC; 3/15/24 Washington, DC, March 15, 2024—Today, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) releases its March 2024 Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy. The report presents MedPAC’s recommendations for updating provider payment rates in traditional fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare for 2025 and for providing additional resources to acute care hospitals and clinicians who furnish care to Medicare beneficiaries with low incomes. ... MedPAC recommends ... eliminating the payment update for hospice providers; and payment reductions for three post-acute care sectors (skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities).Editor's Note: Click here to download this report's "Chapter 9: Hospice Services"

Health care worker education for palliative care in Africa: Narrative ReviewAmerican Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, by Claire Beecher, MD; David Holmes, MD; 3/14.The demand for palliative care for terminally ill patients is rising globally. This review examines the potential of health worker education to enhance palliative care in Africa... The integration of palliative care into public health systems is important for the sustainability of end-of-life care for terminally ill patients in Africa and around the world.Publisher's note: One cannot help but be reminded of the important work of the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa. The need remains...

The determinants of actual place of death among noncancer patients with end-stage chronic health conditions: a scoping reviewPalliative Care and Social Practice, by Sangduan Ginggeaw and Raeann LeBlanc; 3/24.This scoping review describes the percentage of actual places of death and determines social factors related to home as the place of death among noncancer patients with end-stage chronic health conditions.Publisher's note: While this study did not establish clear cause-and-effect relationships between factors, the authors used interesting methods and included thoughtful discussion.

Racial Disparities in low-value care in the last year of life for Medicare beneficiaries with neurodegenerative diseaseNeurology Clinical Practice, by Margarethe E. Goetz, PhD, PA-C; Cassie B. Ford, PhD; Melissa A. Greiner, MS; Amy Clark, PhD; Kim G. Johnson, MD; Brystana G. Kaufman, MD; Sneha Mantri, MD, MS; Ying Xian, MD, PhD; Richard J. O'Brien, MD, PhD; Emily C. O'Brien, PhD; and Jay B. Lusk, MD, MBA; 4/24.We found racial disparities in care utilization among patients with neurodegenerative disease in the last year of life, such that Black decedents were more likely to receive specific low-value care services and less likely to receive high-value supportive care than White decedents, even after adjusting for health status and socioeconomic factors.

Home Health and Hospice Coalition questions and Answers, February 5, 2024Palmetto GBA, email 3/22/24.

Psychedelic therapy: A primer for primary care clinicians - psilocybinAmerican Journal of Therapeutics, by Burton J Tabaac, Kenneth Shinozuka, Alejandro Arenas, Bryce D Beutler, Kirsten Cherian, Viviana D Evans, Chelsey Fasano, Owen S Muir; 3/24.Aside from ketamine, psilocybin is the most clinically well-researched psychedelic drug, with trials that have enrolled hundreds of participants and multiple therapeutic applications. Phase III trials will determine whether psilocybin lives up to the promise that it showed in previous clinical trials.

What contributes to promote sexual health in cancer palliative care? A realist reviewSexual Medicine Reviews, by Donz Roxane, Russia Bruno, Barbaret Cécile, Debbie Braybrook, Perceau-Chambard Elise, Reverdy Thibaut, Economos Guillaume; 3/24.[France, UK] Of the 2056 articles identified, 38 articles were included in the review. The data reported in these articles contributed to 7 CMO hypotheses: (1) improving communication skills, (2) healthcare provider training, (3) reorganizing the patient environment in care settings or at home, (4) managing sexual symptoms and also general symptoms, (5 and 6) patient-centered counseling or couple counseling, and (7) lifting the taboo.

Mortality risk following end-of-life caregiving: A population-based analysis of hospice users and their familiesSocial Science & Medicine, by Mike Hollingshaus, Ken R. Smith, Huong Meeks, Katherine Ornstein, Eli Iacob, Djin Tay, Caroline Stephens, Rebecca L. Utz; 3/24.Highlights: