Literature Review

Hospice Owner Sentenced to 240 Months Imprisonment and Ordered to Repay $42,000,000 for Defrauding MedicareDepartment of Justice; 5/16/24New Orleans - U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that on May 15, 2024, U.S. District Judge Lance Africk sentenced SHIVA AKULA (“AKULA”), age 68, of New Orleans, to 240 months of imprisonment, three years of supervised release and $2,300 in mandatory special assessment fees, in relation to an extensive health care fraud scheme orchestrated by AKULA. In November 2023, a federal jury convicted AKULA of all 23 counts of his underlying indictment. AKULA owned and oversaw the day-to-day operations of Canon Healthcare, LLC, a hospice facility with offices in the New Orleans area, Baton Rouge, Covington, and Gulfport, Mississippi. At sentencing, the Court found that between January 2013 and December 2019, Canon billed Medicare approximately $84 million in fraudulent claims and was paid approximately $42 million relating to these fraudulent claims. The Court ordered that AKULA repay the $42 million of fraudulent proceeds back to Medicare.

Recognizing the physical and emotional toll that caring for a loved one with a chronic condition has on the caregiverMedical Xpress; by American Heart Association; 5/15/24Living with a chronic medical condition after surviving a heart attack or stroke may come with additional health and personal care needs. Often survivors must rely on a family member or close friend to help. However, there's a growing body of scientific research that shows people who serve as unpaid caregivers may not be getting the care they need to live longer, healthier lives, according to the American Heart Association...

Biden announces ‘major step’ toward reclassifying marijuanaThe Hill; by Joseph Choi; 5/16/24The Biden administration announced Thursday it had initiated the formal rulemaking process to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III from its Schedule I designation that it has held for more than 50 years. CBS website maps states where marijuana is legal for recreational and / or medical use.

98-year-old Marine veteran in hospice care finally receives his high school diploma[MD] WJLA; by Jay Korff; 5/18/24A nearly 100-year-old Marine veteran in hospice Friday was hand-delivered the high school diploma he never received. 98-year-old Richard Remp was unable to get his diploma back in the 1940s because he dropped out at age 17 to serve in World War II, then Korea, and then Vietnam. But he savored the remarkable moment Friday.

Compliance Strategies for Forthcoming Hospice HOPE ToolHospice News; by Holly Vossel; 5/16/24Hospices will have a learning curve when it comes to implementing the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation Tool (HOPE) tool. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is currently developing quality measures that will be included in the HOPE tool, which will replace the current Hospice Item Set (HIS). After years of development, the agency in its recent hospice proposed rule indicated that the HOPE tool’s implementation would begin in 2025.Notable Mentions: Jennifer Kennedy, CHAP; Kimberly Skehan, CHAP.

Home care providers need to step up worker safety initiatives, experts sayMcKnight's Home Care; by Adam Healy; 5/14/24In the aftermath of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s citing of Elara Caring for failing to protect a worker killed on the job, safety and legal experts are urging providers to be proactive about implementing worker safety practices. “We have been seeing a rather significant uptick in workplace violence issues in the home-based care industry,” Angelo Spinola, an attorney at Polsinelli, told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse, in a statement. “We highly recommend that providers take proactive steps to implement home-based care specific policies and procedures and conduct workplace trainings that address common issues such as what to do if a client is acting erratically, how to report unsafe conditions in the home [such as an unsecured firearm], de-escalation techniques, etc.”

What healthcare REITs mean for providers, patientsModern Healthcare; by Hayley DeSilva; 5/14/24Steward Health Care's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing is the latest example of the significant role real estate investment trusts play in healthcare. REITs have served as a financial solution for providers and health systems, allowing them to broaden their networks without as hefty a capital investment. Steward, for example, is the largest tenant of Medical Properties Trust, which bought Steward's real estate assets in 2016. The REIT, which also owns 10% of Steward, has approved $75 million in debtor-in-possession financing to help Steward maintain patient care while looking for operators for its hospitals.

[Old news] Consumer Alerts added to the Nursing Home Compare website and the Five Star Quality Rating SystemCMS; 10/7/19Adding an “abuse icon” to facilities cited for abuse: Every nursing home resident deserves be treated with respect at all times. Abuse is never acceptable and CMS is very concerned about incidents related to abuse (including neglect and exploitation) in nursing homes. ... As part of this strategy, we want to make it easier for consumers to identify facilities with instances of non-compliance related to abuse. To do this, in October 2019, we are adding an icon to highlight facilities that meet the following criteria: 1) Facilities cited for abuse where residents were found to be harmed (Scope/Severity of G or higher) on the most recent standard survey, or on a complaint survey within the past 12 months; or 2) Facilities cited for abuse where residents were found to be potentially harmed (Scope/Severity of D or higher) on the most recent standard survey or a complaint survey within the past 12 months, and on the previous (i.e., second most recent) standard survey or on a complaint survey in the prior 12 months (i.e., from 24 months ago to 12 months ago).Publisher's Note: With apologies for "old news", this was "new news" to me - i.e., that Care Compare for Nursing Facilities includes a "red stop hand" and a "yellow triangle warning" to warn consumers of poor performers. When might this be added to Care Compare for Hospice, and what criteria might be used?

Addus CEO: Hospice Headwinds Starting to AbateHospice News; by Jim Parker; 5/16/24Addus Homecare Corp. (NASDAQ: ADUS) is seeing constrictions on growth start to ease in its hospice business. Many of those headwinds were associated with lingering effects of the pandemic. Like many hospice providers, Addus has faced COVID-19 challenges that include reduced patient volumes and shorter length of stays. Now, the company’s hospice rebound is starting to accelerate, CEO Dirk Allison said during the Bank of America Securities Health Care Conference.

‘Cuddle therapy’ ponies help bring joy to patients and staff at local hospice[London] Bedford Independent; by Emily Moriarty-Jones; 5/18/24The patients and staff of Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice in Moggerhanger were excited to be greeted by two very special guests recently, when Teddy and Mouse, a pair of ‘cuddle therapy ponies’ came for a visit. Those being cared for at the hospice, as well as their families and Sue Ryder staff were given the chance to pet, brush and interact with the placid pair.

The Private-Equity Deal That Flattened a Hospital Chain and Its LandlordWall Street Journal; by Jonathan WeilFollow; 5/7/24Cerberus made a big profit, but Steward went bankrupt and its landlord suffered big losses. In the spring of 2020, Cerberus Capital Management was faced with a tricky financial situation. It owned a struggling hospital chain that needed $400 million to dig out of a deep financial hole, but Cerberus wanted to sell rather than invest more. The deal helped shape much of what followed for Steward Health Care System over the next four years, culminating this week in the Chapter 11 filing of Steward, one of the biggest hospital bankruptcies in U.S. history. ... The 2020 deal paved the way for Cerberus to sell its majority stake in Steward to the hospital chain’s chief executive and others and lock in an eventual $800 million profit. It bought time for the CEO and new majority owner, Dr. Ralph de la Torre, who received a big cash payout himself the next year.

Big Bend Hospice, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Plan to Build Value-Based Network, Offer Palliative CareHospice News; by Jim Parker; 5/14/24A new collaboration for transitional care between Florida-based Big Bend Hospice (BBH) and the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) system has more going on behind the scenes. Big Bend, a nonprofit provider, in 2021 formed a new parent company called Seven Oaks Health. TMH has entered into an affiliation agreement with Seven Oaks Health, as the new organization works over the next five years to build a larger value-based network to provide transitional and palliative care, social determinants support, as well as care navigation and other services. Looking to the future, the organizations’ plans to engage in value-based care could manifest through participation in the Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access and Community Health (ACO REACH) model.