Literature Review

Deaths of despair surged among Black people over past decadeJAMA Network; by Emily Harris; 5/24Guided by findings reported in 2015, researchers have thought that the uptick in midlife deaths of despair—those resulting from suicide, drug overdose, and alcoholic liver disease—disproportionately affected White people. Now, new data published in JAMA Psychiatry illustrate that the decrease in life expectancy from deaths of despair among people aged 45 to 54 years is not unique to White individuals.Publisher's Note: Some hospices exclude suicide, drug overdose, alcoholic liver disease, etc., from hospice utilization calculations or consideration - should we?

Hospice patient in Red Wing died after being given morphine by mistakeBring Me the News (MN); by Tommy Wiita; 5/29/24A hospice patient at a Red Wing assisted living facility suffering a diabetic emergency died after being given morphine by mistake. A Minnesota Department of Health State Rapid Response Investigative Report found that the allegation of neglect against the Mayo Clinic Hospice at 906 College Way was substantiated as the staff member "failed to provide timely care, monitoring, and safe medication administration services. The report says the staff member provided five times the resident's prescribed dose of morphine "in error" and didn't provide interventions when the resident was having a seizure and had a critically low blood sugar of 29.

Over 400 physicians from Delaware’s ChristianaCare move to unionize Portside; by Jennifer Henderson / MedPageToday; 5/28/24 More than 400 physicians from Delaware's Christiana Hospital, Wilmington Hospital, and Middletown Free-standing Emergency Department -- all part of the ChristianaCare health system -- filed to unionize with Doctors Council SEIU Local 10MD. "If successful, this will be the first physician union in Delaware and the first union of any kind at ChristianaCare," Doctors Council SEIU said in an announcement of the filing, which pointed to the ongoing corporatization of medicine as driving the physicians' efforts. Some of the specific concerns that physicians detailed in regard to their filing included understaffing and inadequate resources, corporate influence on medical decision making, limited input in matters affecting patient care and physician safety and autonomy, and moral injury caused by pressure to place profit over patients. Editor's Note: These "specific concerns" reflect consistent themes with other, recent healthcare unionization and strikes throughout the nation, within the scope of one's practice (e.g., physicians vs. nurses). 

President and CEO of Baxter Health System issues note of thanks to publicOzark Radio News (AR); by Daniel Williams; 5/29/24The president and CEO of Baxter Health in Mountain Home recently issued a word of thanks to the public, addressing those who provided help during the emergency situations in Arkansas on the morning of Sunday, May 26th."I would like to personally thank everyone who was involved in the Code Yellow Disaster event on Sunday morning at Baxter Health. ... Whether it was our ambulance crews who were first on the scene, our physicians, nurses, or ancillary staff at the hospital, or our staff checking on Home Health and Hospice patients for oxygen and other needs, everyone played a crucial role. Additionally, others like Air Evac assisted us in setting up a triage area ... Thank you all very much. I know that there is still a lot to deal with in the aftermath of the storms. Your continued commitment to help is still present and obvious."Editor's Note: Thank you, Ron Peterson (president and CEO) for exemplifying community collaboration, leadership, and humanity. News of natural disasters throughout our nation has become normal: tornados, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, blizzards, and more. Behind each incident are hospice patients, caregivers/families, professionals, volunteers, and community services who rally together to provide safety and support. (For readers, whom might you reach out and thank, for their crucial support through a past crisis?)

Sixth annual Run, Walk n Roll 5K continues mission [more than $110,000] Grosse Pointe News; by GPN Staff; 5/29/24 Providing funding for pediatric palliative care is the goal of the sixth annual Run, Walk n Roll 5K. ... [This] year's event is virtual, so participants can run, walk or roll from anywhere throught the month of June. ... Since its inception, the event has raised nearly $600,000 for the palliative care program at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor. This year's event already has more than 70 sponsors, more than $110,000 raised and participants on six continents and across the U.S. 

AI, health care and the strange future of medicine American Medical Association (AMA); transcript of AMA podcast "Moving Medicine," hosted by Todd Unger;  5/28/24AMA President Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, leads a discussion with three other physicians on the use of AI in health care. Panelists are Claire Novorol, MD, PhD, the founder and chief medical officer of Ada Health, a digital health company using AI to help diagnose and treat patients; Mark Sendak, MD, MPP, a population health data science lead at Duke Institute for Health Innovation; and Alex Stinard, MD, an emergency room physician and regional medical director of Envision Health Care in Florida.

The Foundation of Community Hospice & Palliative Care raises $328,000 at C.A.R.S. Benefit Event JaxChamber - Jacksonville News (FL); 5/29/24The Foundation of Community Hospice & Palliative Care is pleased to announce that the recent Children are Rock Stars (C.A.R.S) benefit event, presented by Ring Power and held at The Brumos Collection, raised an impressive $328,000. “We extend our heartfelt thanks to Ring Power and the dedicated C.A.R.S. committee for their incredible effort and unwavering support, which were instrumental in making this event a success,” said Annie Tuttle, Executive Director of The Foundation of Community Hospice & Palliative Care. “Their commitment to our cause and the generous contributions from our donors and sponsors have made a significant impact.”

New study finds underutilization of early palliative care for patients with advanced cancer mostly attributable to provider and organizational characteristics American Cancer Society; 5/28/24 A new study led by researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) shows despite considerable growth in early palliative care (PC) use, utilization among patients with advanced cancer remained low from 2010 to 2019. ... Early integration of palliative care is recommended for advanced-stage cancers, but evidence of its use and the role of provider and organizational characteristics in its uptake is limited. ... Early PC was defined as receipt of PC within 90 days post-diagnosis and before hospice admission, if any. ... Study authors stress the large variation between providers and organizations suggest important modifiable provider behaviors and organizational characteristics in early PC receipt, ...

Executive Personnel Changes - 5/31/24

NAHC, NHPCO to merge, Dombi to retire McKnights Home Care; by Adam Healy; 5/23/24 The National Association for Home Care & Hospice and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization are on track to begin merging by July. In a related development, NAHC’s president William Dombi disclosed that he intends to retire by the end of 2024. “Both boards have authorized an affiliation agreement; it’s fully drafted,” Ken Albert, chair of NAHC’s board of directors, told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse in an interview. “We’re looking to transition July 1 of this year. The transition board has been selected. I’ll serve as chair of that transition board; [NHPCO board chair] Melinda Gruber will serve as vice chair. Board members have been identified, and then that next six months from July to December will kind of be the operational integration. We’re in the process of recruiting a new CEO right now, and then all the tech-side, the backend, office-end, that’s going on right now.” Albert added that neither Bill Dombi or Ben Marcantonio, NHPCO’s chief executive officer, would be eligible to lead the new organization.

Early talks about governance essential for nonprofit hospice affiliations Hospice News, by Jim Parker; 5/28/24 Nonprofit hospices can combine their businesses in a number of ways, including traditional acquisitions, board member substitutions and other types of affiliations. However, member substitutions are becoming more common, according to Meg Pekarske, partner at the law firm Husch Blackwell. While this model offers benefits it can also become a political minefield that can sink an affiliation. ...

I can't change you and you can't change me, but together we can work to change the world!  – Germany Kent