Literature Review

Saturday newsletters focus on headlines and research - enjoy!

Adena Health announces new joint venture to advance home health and hospice services Chillicothe Gazette - USA Today Network; 7/10/24 Adena Health has announced a new joint venture partnership with national home health leader Alternate Solutions Health Network (ASHN). The new home health and hospice collaboration will be jointly owned by Adena Health and ASHN, and operate as Adena Home Health and Hospice effective this August. Headquartered in Kettering, ASHN partners with more than 90 multi-facility home healthcare and hospice healthcare systems across five states through joint ventures that include area partnerships with The Christ Hospital Health Network, Genesis Healthcare System, Kettering Health, and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. The Adena team will join forces with ASHN’s group of leading physicians and healthcare professionals to expand the suite of home health and hospice services while enhancing patient experience and nurturing clinical talent.

Senior living providers embrace role in CMS dementia care pilot program McKnights Senior Living; by Kimberly Bonvissuto; 7/11/24 Senior living providers named participants in the federal government’s new dementia care pilot program said they are excited to be part of a new effort to support people living with dementia and their family caregivers. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, CMMI, announced the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience, or GUIDE, model last summer. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services launched the eight-year GUIDE model on July 1 and published the program participant list on Monday [7/8]. Eligible model participants are Medicare Part B-enrolled providers eligible to bill for Medicare services and that provide, or will provide, ongoing care to people living with dementia. Eligible organizations include accountable care organizations, home health and hospice agencies, Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, and physician practices. Additional long-term care providers and other healthcare providers, however, can participate as partner organizations by contract with another Medicare provider/supplier to meet the program care delivery requirements. Assisted living residents who are Medicare beneficiaries may be part of the model. Editor's Note: Adding to our previously published posts about the new CMS GUIDE Program (7/10/24 and 7/11/24) and its use by hospice organizations, this article describes its use by senior living care providers. 

A journey shared: Navigating cancer as a caretaker, nurse, and patient Oncology Nursing News; by Charlotte Goor, BSN, RN, OCN; 7/9/24 An oncology nurse's experience with mother's cancer and her own BRCA2 diagnosis shapes her approach to patient care. “She had a tumor the size of a cantaloupe,” the surgeon said. I felt like the world had caved in on me and I was suffocating in its core. I was 22 years old when my mother developed a mysterious “bulge” in her lower abdomen—stage 4 ovarian cancer, as it turned out. As a bonus, we learned that both she and I carried the BRCA2 gene mutation, which meant that I was at an increased risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer as well." The ensuing journey from caregiver to nurse to patient has profoundly shaped my nursing practice by providing unique insights and deepening my empathy. ...

Mythbusting some misconceptions about operational improvement technology HIMSS; by Bill Siwicki; 7/10/24 Revenue cycle management is a great place for operational improvement technologies. These technologies can leverage process and task mining to give leaders a bird's-eye view of their teams' workflows. But according to 20-year healthcare veteran Todd Doze, CEO of Janus Health, a revenue cycle management technology company, there are three common myths associated with operational improvement technologies:

Other Business Headlines of Interest, updated 7/11/24 per nasdaq.com

Rosewood nursing home staff demands experience pay, free coverage Times Union, Rensselaer, NY; by Jim Franco; 7/11/24 A group of Rosewood Rehabilitation and Nursing Center workers, represented by a national health care union, is demanding a new contract with higher wages for more experienced workers and a union-provided health insurance plan that would be fully paid by their employers. ... The workers, members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, say a contract with the experience pay and no-cost health care coverage would help address staff shortages at the facility. The union, which has an office in East Greenbush, cites federal Department of Health and Human Services data showing total nursing staff turnover at the facility is 61.8 percent, higher than the national average of 52 percent and the New York average of 44.7 percent.Editor's Note: The reasons identified for this staff strike are consistent with other nursing/healthcare strikes across the nation: pay, benefits, staff shortages. Additionally, this facility's nursing staff turnover of 61.8 percent likely impacts--negatively--patient safety, another key factor for recent nursing strikes.

Top News Stories Of The Month, June 2024 (teleioscn.org)

Caregiver charged with abusing dementia patient The Freeman, Waukesha County, WI; by Freeman Staff; 7/9/24 A West Allis woman has been charged after she allegedly struck a dementia patient in her care and put a pillow over the woman’s face out of frustration. Erica Junger, 22, was charged Monday in Waukesha County Circuit Court with a count of intentionally abusing a patient, and faces up to six years in prison if convicted. She made an initial appearance in court Monday, where she was released on a $2,500 signature bond and ordered by Court Commissioner David Herring not to work in any job where she is responsible for the health care and safety of others. ... She said she "snapped" and did things she wasn’t supposed to do, but didn’t mean anything by it. ... The complaint did not identify the facility where the incident took place. But it did identify Junger as an employee of Agrace Hospice, which contracts with the facility.

Supporting the grieving child and family: Clinical reportAmerican Academy of Pediatrics; by David J. Schonfeld, MD, FAAP; Thomas Demaria, PhD; Arwa Nasir, MBBS, MSc, MPH, FAAP; Sairam Kumar, MD, FAAP; Committee on Pyschosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health; Council on Children and Disasters; 6/17/24At some point in their childhood, the majority of children will experience the death of a close family member or friend. Approximately 1 in 20 children in the United States experiences the death of a parent by the age of 16. ... The death of someone close to a child often has a profound and lifelong effect on the child and results in a range of both short- and long-term reactions. ... This clinical report offers practical suggestions on how to talk with grieving children to help them better understand what has happened and its implications. An understanding of guilt, shame, and other common reactions as well as an appreciation of the role of secondary losses and the unique challenges facing children in communities characterized by chronic trauma and cumulative loss will help the [healthcare professional] to address factors that may impair children’s adjustment and to identify complicated mourning and situations when professional counseling is indicated. Advice on how to support children’s participation in funerals and other memorial services and to anticipate and address grief triggers and anniversary reactions is provided. ...Editor's Note: This significant article can be downloaded and shared with your organization's clinicians. For additional, ongoing resources, explore the National Alliance for Children's Grief. If your hospice provides specialized children's grief services, are they listed on the NACG's "Find a Support Center or Camp Near You" search engine? Click here to add or update your listing.

Gen Z prefers burial over cremation, reversing decades of preferences trending toward cremationPR Newswire; by National Funeral Directors Association; 7/9/24 There is no shortage of social commentary on how Gen Z is redefining norms and challenging older generations to think differently, from fashion to workplace culture. But what about their perspective on death and dying? A first-of-its-kind survey conducted by the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) offers definitive data to show how Gen Z thinks differently about end-of-life matters for themselves and their loved ones – as well as similarities with older generations. Notable differences between the generations highlight Gen Z's unique perspective, even compared to Millennials who are the closest in age, highlighting a pivot in end-of-life preferences to come:

10 recent healthcare industry lawsuits, settlements Becker's Hospital Review; by Andrew Cass; 7/8/24... Here are 10 healthcare industry lawsuits, settlements and legal developments Becker's reported since June 26: