Literature Review

Maxwell Healthcare Associates, Hospice Dynamix, and Medalogix announce partnershipPR Newswire; 2/20/24Maxwell Healthcare Associates (MHA), a leading provider in the post-acute space with an average of 20 years of experience, is proud to announce a groundbreaking partnership with Hospice Dynamix, and Medalogix. This collaboration aims to revolutionize hospice care delivery through cutting-edge innovation.

The bottom line: Top billing, financial mistakes responsible for home health agency struggles

Embodied decisions unfolding over time: a meta-ethnography systematic review of people with cancer's reasons for delaying or declining end-of-life careBMC Palliat Care, by Jessica Young, Antonia Lyons, Richard Egan, and Kevin Dew; 2/19/24Conclusions: Decisions about when (and for some, whether at all) to accept end-of-life care are made in a complex system with preferences shifting over time, in relation to the embodied experience of life-limiting cancer. Time is central to patients' end-of-life care decision-making. ... The integration of palliative care across the cancer care trajectory and earlier introduction of end-of-life care highlight the importance of these findings for improving access whilst recognising that accessing end-of-life care will not be desired by all patients.

Reduced federal share may force state Medicaid programs to cut services, HCBS expert saysMcKnights Home Care, by Adam Healy; 2/15/24The Congressional Budget Office this month released its “Budget and Economic Outlook” report for the coming decade. In its report, CBO predicted a roughly $58 billion drop in federal Medicaid outlays for 2024 compared to 2023 — a 9% decrease in federal Medicaid spending, due in part to fewer beneficiaries on states’ Medicaid rolls. 

Poll: Md. voters support medical aid-in-dying option, but bill is far from the finish lineMaryland Matters, by Danielle J. Brown; 2/19/24The survey results, released last week, showed that 69.9% of Maryland voters think that a mentally sound but terminally ill adult with only six months to live should have the legal option to request medical aid-in-dying services, while 22% of those who responded to the poll do not support that option. About 8% of the respondents did not answer. ... The overall support for medical aid-in-dying spans political parties and demographics, according to the poll results, as 72% of Democrats surveyed were in support along with 69% of Republicans and 65% of unaffiliated voters.

Ascension posts $708M quarterly turnaroundBecker's Hospital CFO Report, by Alan Condon; 2/19/24Ascension reported a net income of $359.5 million in the fiscal second quarter ending Dec. 31, which is a $708 million improvement on the $238.1 million net loss it reported during the same quarter in 2022. "We remain focused on improving hospital operations, ensuring sustainability for the future and making purposeful decisions that improve the health of individuals and the communities we are privileged to serve,"CFO Liz Foshage said. "Our Q2 quarterly results are a demonstration of this commitment and a signal that we continue to move in the right direction."

Medicare home health patients more likely to eventually receive hospice care, study finds McKnights Home Care, by Adam Healy; 2/20/24Patients who use home health later in life tend to be more likely to enter hospice for end-of-life care — particularly those without dementia. This underscores the need for better home health staff training and enhanced care continuity for Medicare patients, according to a recent study. ... Those beneficiaries who received home healthcare were more likely to enter hospice during their last year of life compared to those who did not have any home health, the study published Feb. 15 in the Journal of Palliative Medicine found.

Death can be isolating and dehumanizing. But what if it didn’t have to be?City Life, by Ben Seal; 2/17/24... In the three years since Elaine’s passing, I’ve longed for a world where more people could be given the chance to die as she did — with the fullness of life surrounding her, and with complete support, emphasizing the emotional and spiritual, not just the medical. In Philadelphia and beyond, a growing community of death-care workers — doulas, nurses, grief counselors, social workers, even funeral directors — is trying to build that world. They are reclaiming death and dying from the institutional model that has become the norm over the past century. Editor's Note: Has hospice now become so institutionalized and medical/regulatory focused that we have lost sight of "emphasizing the emotional and spiritual, not just the medical"? I ask the question, but do not draw judgment, as answers must be contextualized. 

How palliative care could help break the SNF-to-hospital cycle Hospice News, by Molly Bookner; 2/20/24A dearth of coordination or integration between rehab teams and palliative care teams routinely forces some patients into a cycle between the hospital and the nursing home in their last year of life. ...  Nursing homes are incentivized to hospitalize residents eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid because those patients can later return to the nursing home with a higher-paying Medicare benefit before transitioning back to long-term care with lower Medicaid day rates.