Literature Review

Care for Alzheimer's on Medicaid is unorganized, frustrating, inhumanThe Indianapolis Star, by Darcy Metcalfe; 4/14/24What it is like to die of Alzheimer’s in America? Without a doubt, it is nothing as it is portrayed on NBC’s hit series This is Us. At the end of this series, the character Rebecca dies from Alzheimer’s and falls peacefully asleep, snuggly tucked in her warm bed at home, surrounded by family and 24-hour skilled nursing care. Throughout the six seasons of This is Us, I simultaneously witnessed my father’s slow dying from Alzheimer’s in a reality that was worlds away from Rebecca’s. ...

Thursday mornings are like a Rubik’s Cube. You’re not sure how it got this complicated, but you’re determined to solve it. - Anonymous

CT Hospice says it can’t provide home care under bill to protect healthcare workersCT News Junkie, by John Ferraro; 4/16/24Connecticut Hospice has warned lawmakers it will be unable to care for gravely ill patients in their homes under a proposed law aimed at protecting home healthcare workers. At issue is Senate Bill 1, which would require organizations that care for people in their homes to conduct background checks on the clients and anyone in the location where care is being given. ... Barbara Pearce, the chief executive officer of Connecticut Hospice, urged lawmakers to remove Connecticut Hospice from entities that would be required to conduct those background checks, noting that the organization which provides end-of-life care is typically called into homes when a patient has days left to live. “Our national hospice organization could find no similar bill in any other state,” Pearce wrote in testimony to the Public Health Committee. “This bill is too broad, too unclear as to requirements, not guaranteed to achieve its aims, duplicative of other procedures required in hospice care, and contradictory to certain regulations of Medicare.” ...Editor's Note: See the previous article in our newsletter today, After death of nurses, CT lawmakers look for solutions: 'We just cannot ignore that risk'.

After death of nurses, CT lawmakers look for solutions: 'We just cannot ignore that risk' CT Insider, by Ken Dixon, 3/19/24 Home health agencies would have to find out more background information about their patients, and would be reimbursed for providing visiting nurses with escorts to certain homes and neighborhoods under legislation pushed Monday by Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney. ... It was inspired in part by the murder last year of Joyce Grayson of Brooklyn, Connecticut who was killed in a halfway house for sex offenders in Willimantic, as well as the January death of Ototegile Morulane, a live-in caregiver and citizen of the Republican of Botswana who died in an East Lyme house fire. Editor's Note: Though this article was appeared in the CT Insider 3/19/24, we are posting it today for context of our next article, "CT Hospice says it can't provide home care under bill to protect healthcare workers," published 4/16/24.

VR off a smartphone? Tech breakthrough could allow seniors to do away with clunky headsets McKnights Senior Living, by Aaron Dorman; 4/11/24 Virtual reality is becoming more and more popular among older adults. Could the next innovation allow them to experience VR from their smartphone? A full-color, three-dimensional display can be generated off of a smartphone screen, according to new research. Such a breakthrough would make it even easier, and cost-effective, for senior living providers to offer VR and augmented reality content for residents or allow for new telehealth opportunities. The technology would involve only a smartphone screen and a second screen called a “spatial light modulator” to create the multi-layered image

 Health Care Fraud and Abuse 2023 Year in ReviewJD Supra; by Kevin Coffey, Meredith Eng, Haley Essner, Rebecca Hsu, Christopher Kim, Tessa Lancaster, Dayna LaPlante, Logan Moore, Angela Powers; 4/12/24 Polsinelli proudly introduces the Health Care Fraud and Abuse 2023 Year in Review, a comprehensive examination of the evolving landscape surrounding the False Claims Act (“FCA”) and fraud & abuse enforcement efforts in the United States. Since its significant amendments in 1986, the FCA has stood as a formidable tool in combating health care fraud, with the Department of Justice reclaiming over $75 billion in allegedly fraudulent proceeds. 

Remote SNF monitoring partnership promises 25 percent rehospitalization reduction McKnights Senior Living, by Josh Henreckson; 4/15/24 A new partnership between technology company Circadia Health and 81 skilled nursing facilities operated by Ciena Healthcare aims to significantly improve preventive care and reduce preventable rehospitalizations. Circadia’s C100 remote monitoring devices ... will be installed in residents’ rooms. They are capable of continuously monitoring key vital signs like residents’ breathing rate, heart rate and unusual motions and compare them with personalized profiles. 

Funding boost for crucial hospice care, Welsh Government announces National Health Executive, by Louis Morris; 4/15/24 The Welsh Governmetn has confirmed that 12 hospices in Wales will receive £4million of funding to continue providing crucial care. The funding will help the network of hospices:

Medi Home Health and Hospice comes to CulpeperCulpeper Star-Exponent, by Richard Horner; 4/13/24Medi Home Health and Hospice held a grand opening celebration for its new Culpeper (VA) location on Tuesday. Sponsored by the Culpeper County Chamber of Commerce, Medi is an arm of Medical Services of America, which offers home health and hospice care. It had several locations throughout the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, including Virginia. According to Ashley McDonald, director of marketing for Medi, the business offers in-home care, including various forms of therapy and nursing care. Medi also offers hospice and palliative care.

In two states, transforming the model for palliative care [CA & HI]Undark, by Meredith Lidard Kleeman; 4/16/24 "Being ill is like a full-time job,” said Andrew E. Kaufman, a 60-year-old author. Kaufman lives with myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease, as well as other chronic conditions, and his self-care requires a lot of time — and communication. The cascade of his own needs “is frustrating and causes anxiety and a whole host of issues.” Lucky for Kaufman, he lives in California, where he has help from a palliative care team. California is one of the first states in the country to require insurance companies that administer Medicaid benefits to fully cover palliative care services for eligible residents. Editor's Note: Click on the title's link to read more, as this use redefines "palliative care."

'I'm dying, you're not': Those terminally ill ask more states to legalize physician-assisted death The Washington Post, by Jesse Bedayn, AP; 4/12/24 On a brisk day at a restaurant outside Chicago, Deb Robertson sat with her teenage grandson to talk about her death. She’ll probably miss his high school graduation. ... “Medical aid in dying is not me choosing to die,” she says she told her 17-year-old grandson. “I am going to die. But it is my way of having a little bit more control over what it looks like in the end.” ... At least 12 states currently have bills that would legalize physician-assisted death. ... Two states have gone in the opposite direction. ...

Leadership is not a license to do less. Leadership is a responsibility to do more. - Simon Sinek

From Hardship to Healing: The power of gratitude Everyday Health, by Simran Malhotra, MD; 4/15/24 This is my journey of previvorship in a nutshell: In a span of six years, between ages 26 and 32, I welcomed two children within 19 months, worked a full-time job during early motherhood as a palliative care physician, served on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic, and underwent multiple breast cancer risk-reducing surgeries in 2020. When people hear my story, I often get asked the same question repeatedly: “How did you handle all that?” ...