Literature Review

Why Doctors and Pharmacists Are in RevoltNew York TimesDecember 3, 2023... And doctors are not the only health professionals who are unionizing or protesting in greater numbers. Health care workers, many of them nurses, held eight major work stoppages last year—the most in a decade—and are on pace to match or exceed that number this year. This fall, dozens of nonunion pharmacists at CVS and Walgreens stores called in sick or walked off the job to protest understaffing, many for a full day or more.

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. ~Mahatma GandhiSign up for our free daily newsletters here!UNSUBSCRIBE NOTICE: Hospice & Palliative Care Today is a free subscription email. If you believe you have received this email in error, or if you no longer wish to receive Hospice & Palliative Care Today, please unsubscribe here or reply to this email with the message “Unsubscribe”. Thank you.

Trinity slims operating loss to $58.6M in FY Q1Becker’s Hospital CFO ReportDecember 1, 2023Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health reported an operating loss of $58.6 million (-1% margin) in the first quarter of the fiscal year—the three months ended Sept. 30—compared to a $146.3 million loss (-2.9% margin) during the same period in 2022. For the fiscal first quarter, operating revenue increased 12.4% year over year to $5.6 billion.

UCP Developing Scripted Series Based On ‘The In-Between’ Memoir From Hospice Nurse Hadley VlahosDeadlineDecember 1, 2023The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life’s Final Moments, a book about death, written by hospice nurse Hadley Vlahos is set to be turned into a scripted series. UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, has landed the rights to the project in a competitive situation. In The In-Between, Vlahos recounts the most impactful experiences she’s had with the people she’s worked with—from the woman who never once questioned her faith until she was close to death, to the older man seeing visions of his late daughter, to the young patient who laments that she spent too much of her short life worrying about what others thought of her—while also sharing her own fascinating journey.

2024 Hospice & Palliative Care Organization Education Calendar

Ready Pet Go! Meet the 125 lb. dog comforting people in hospice careWKYC-TV (Cleveland, OH)November 29, 2023Strongsville, OH—When your loved one is ready to move on to the other side, you hope they’ll find comfort in a place of peace, serenity, and care. At the Thomas P. Perciak Hospice of Southwest General, there’s someone there to help. His name is Winston. He’s an 8-year-old Bernese mountain dog, about 125 lbs., and is the biggest lover you’ll ever meet.

Let’s expand access to PACE to improve eldercareBy Shawn BloomModern HealthcareDecember 4, 2023... Today, PACE participants are, for the most part, those who receive both Medicare and Medicaid benefits. However, it could act as the desired model of care for millions of Medicare beneficiaries who aren’t eligible for Medicaid. In fact, many impartial experts and think tanks, such as the Milken Institute, the Bipartisan Policy Center, Duke University Margolis Center for Health Policy and AARP’s Public Policy Institute, have cited PACE as a potential solution for the nation’s eldercare crisis, which will only worsen as the baby boomers continue to flood the aging and nursing services infrastructure.[Editor’s Note: The author is President and CEO of the National PACE Association.]

Kids fighting health battles take off from Dulles to the North PoleWTOP-FM (Washington, DC)December 2, 2023Dozens of kids facing tough health battles and in hospice care took a special United ‘fantasy flight’ from Dulles International Airport on Saturday. Their final destination? The North Pole, to meet Santa.

What's one way your volunteers make a difference in your patient's lives? Share responses here. Responses shared tomorrow.Yesterday's Question: How have you used AI this week?Responses included: To aggregate / prioritize multiple media articles.

The Pennant Group Buys Southwestern Palliative Care & HospiceHospice NewsDecember 1, 2023The Pennant Group Inc. has inked a deal to acquire Arizona-based Southwestern Palliative Care & Hospice for an undisclosed amount, adding to its existing presence in the state. Southwestern Palliative Care & Hospice provides home-based end-of-life and serious illness care to communities in Yuma, Arizona.[Editor’s Note: To read The Pennant Group news release, click here.]

It’s your funeral—Here’s how to plan so your loved ones don’t have toUnion Democrat (Sonora, CA)November 28, 2023Just 10% of people have told a funeral home in writing what their funeral plans are, according to NFDA surveys, and an even smaller share have pre-paid for their arrangements. So whether you are pre-planning your own funeral—as experts highly recommend by either talking with a funeral home or including it within your estate planning—or helping with a loved one’s arrangements, here are a few basics to start the conversation...

Community Health Systems sells three Florida hospitals for $294MModern HealthcareDecember 1, 2023Community Health Systems sold three Florida hospitals to Tampa General Hospital in a $294 million cash deal that closed Friday, the for-profit health system announced. The transaction involves the 120-bed Bravera Health Brooksville in Brooksville, the 128-bed Bravera Health Seven Rivers in Crystal River and the 124-bed Bravera Health Spring Hill in Spring Hill, in addition to clinics and outpatient services.

Nursing Homes’ Letter to CMS Calls Out Lack of Teeth—and Clarity—in Final Rule’s Medicare Advantage ReformSkilled Nursing NewsDecember 1, 2023In order to keep Medicare Advantage plans in check for denial of services, provider organizations are pressuring federal authorities to do more, and asking them to closely monitor and aggressively enforce reforms for these plans as envisioned in a final rule that takes effect on Jan. 1. Companies managing MA plans have said they don’t believe they need to do anything different, based on what was laid out in the final rule, a worrying concern that needs to be addressed, providers said, who are also seeking to gain clarity on how the Center for Medicare & Medicaid will monitor MA plans’ compliance. To that end, nursing home and hospital associations are seeking to influence the implementation of CMS’s rule regarding MA plans.