Literature Review

‘I tried to get into their shoes and their culture’. Care worker experiences in cultural end-of-life care: Interpretative phenomenological analysis Journal of Clinical Nursing / Early View; by Elizabeth Lambert RN, BN (Hons), Jo Gibson RN, BN, PhD, MAdvNsgPrac, Kasia Bail RN, BN(Hons), GCHE, PhD Aim: What are care workers' lived experiences caring for people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds during end-of-life care?What does this paper contribute to the wider global community? This study highlights the importance of understanding care workers’ experiences in providing culturally appropriate end-of-life care.

Bluegrass Care Navigators and Hosparus Health announce landmark affiliation agreement Hosparus Health Press Release; 6/17/24 Today marks a significant milestone as Bluegrass Care Navigators and Hosparus Health announced that their respective boards of directors have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to begin working toward a formal affiliation between the two organizations. The affiliation is rooted in the organizations’ shared mission of providing compassionate, high-quality care to those facing serious illness and end-of-life. It aims to enhance service delivery, improve operational efficiencies, and bolster long-term sustainability — all while preserving the unique identities and local operations of both organizations. David Cook, Hosparus Health President and CEO, said, “This formal affiliation is designed to strengthen and improve resiliency for our organizations. Rest assured, we will continue to honor and maintain the distinct identities and local presence that our communities have come to cherish. This affiliation is a testament to our shared commitment to working together and enhancing care for our communities.” “Both Bluegrass Care Navigators and Hosparus Health share a joint mission: to provide exceptional, compassionate, high-quality care to those facing frailty, serious illness and end-of-life,” added Liz Fowler, President and CEO of Bluegrass Care Navigators. “Our long histories of service, innovation, and excellence make this affiliation a natural and exciting next step.” [Click on the title's link to read more.] 

Dying of heart failure: how do we improve the experience? The Medical Journal of Australia - MJA; by Dominica Zentner, Vithoosharan Sivanathan, Jennifer Philip and Natasha Smallwood; published online 6/17/24 ... Despite the improvements afforded by multiple pharmacological, surgical and interventional developments in heart failure, the goal of therapy remains delayed disease progression for many. Cognisant of this reality, recent heart failure guidelines all highlight the important role of palliative care. ... The MJA recently published an article regarding the imperative of reframing palliative care. ... We suggest that ...

CMS recalculates Medicare Advantage star ratings Becker's Payer Issues; by Rylee Wilson; 6/13/24CMS has recalculated Medicare Advantage plans' star ratings after insurers challenging the agency's methodology were handed court victories. In a memo sent to MA plans on June 13, the agency said it would recalculate plans' star ratings for 2024 without eliminating extreme outliers.  

Telehealth can broaden reach of palliative care for lung cancer patients, per MGH study MedCity News; by Frank Vinluan; 6/16/24 Palliative care provided by video was equivalent to in-person visits with a clinician, according to study results presented during the recent annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Investigators say these results indicate telehealth can make palliative care accessible to more cancer patients. ... Guidelines of ASCO and other professional organizations recommend integrating palliative care from the time of a diagnosis of advanced cancer. Nevertheless, many patients don’t get this care, Greer said. On the clinician side, there are not enough specially trained palliative care clinicians, he explained. From the patient perspective, living in a rural area or lacking transportation can make it difficult to access such care.

Home health agency racked up $8.5 million through fraudulent claims, hired employees with criminal historyHome Heath Care News; by Andrew Donlan; 6/13/24The former owner of a home-based care company – based in the Cincinnati area – has been found guilty of fraudulently billing more than $8.5 million from Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans Affairs (VA) over a six-year period. From 2015 to 2021, Sharon Romaine Ward submitted at least 92,770 claims on behalf of Halo Home Healthcare to Medicaid, and received $8.4 million between 2016 and 2021. She also admitted that she concealed her ownership of that company because of a prior felony conviction.

4 percent of those aged 65+ have dementia diagnoses: reportMcKnight's Senior Living; by Kimberly Bonvissuto; 6/14/24Four percent of US adults aged 65 or more years have a dementia diagnosis, with rates of dementia increasing with age, according to newly released data. Data from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey, or NHIS, revealed that the rate of dementia diagnoses ranged from 1.7% for adults aged 65 to 74 years to 13.1% in those 85 and older, according to the National Health Statistics Reports issue released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ... Among all residential care communities, 42% of residents have diagnoses of Alzhiemer’s disease or other dementias, according to the report. By comparison, 31% had heart disease, and 29% had depression.

Sens. Warren, Markey propose bill that would lead to prison time for 'corporate greed' in health careFox News [reported by KFF Health News]; by Landon Mion; 6/12/24The Corporate Crimes Against Health Care Act would create a new criminal penalty that could land executives in prison for up to six years. Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, both Democrats, introduced legislation Tuesday that would result in prison time for violators of "corporate greed" in health care. The Corporate Crimes Against Health Care Act would also offer state attorneys general and the U.S. Justice Department more tools to go after health care executives accused of corporate exploitation for endangering patient safety and access to health care, according to a press release.

Juneteenth 2024: If people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love. But we need to know, you can’t erase history. So, let’s learn from it and be damned sure it doesn’t happen again." — Ms. Opal Lee, Civil Rights Activist, Grandmother of Juneteenth and honorary national co-chair of the Juneteenth Legacy Project

How funerals and death became the new hot things New York Post; by Alix Strauss; 6/16/24 ... Funeral homes, similar to cemeteries ... are becoming the new community centers, and people are attending events not for sad occasions, but because they have become death curious, death fascinated, and death comfortable as we all move closer to that final chapter. “The stigma around funeral homes is dissipating. The vibe of our funeral home is changing. People come to these events wanting to be here, as opposed to having to be here,” said William Villanova, president of Frank E. Campbell – The Funeral Chapel. “There’s a void we are filling in our community. We put on large-scale, high-quality, catered events with talented people at an extraordinary space.”

Nurse’s union reacts to order that medical company pay $17M in bills Rhode Island News - Providence Now ABC 6; by Gino DeAngelis; 6/13/24 The United Nurses and Allied Professionals said it has been “sounding the alarm for years” about Prospect Medical Holdings’ lack of investment in both Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center. The company was ordered to pay $17 million in overdue bills to vendors of both hospitals. UNAP said it represents 1,200 employees at both hospitals as well as at Prospect Home Health and Hospice. ... "This decision by Judge Stern further highlights the need for the next owner – whether it is Centurion Foundation or someone else – to invest their own capital into these important hospitals and healthcare facilities. We simply can not rely on saddling these hospitals with more and more debt as is being currently proposed." 

'I don't ever trust Epic to be correct': Nurses raise more AI concerns Becker's Health IT; by Giles Bruce; 6/14/24 Nurses continue to voice concerns about artificial intelligence and its integration into EHRs, saying the technology is ineffective and interferes with patient care. Nurses from health systems around the country spoke to National Nurses United, their largest labor union, for a June 5 story about issues with such programs as automated nurse handoffs, patient classification systems and sepsis alerts. Multiple nurses cited problems with EHR-based programs from Epic and Oracle Health that use algorithms to determine patient acuity and nurse staffing levels. "I don't ever trust Epic to be correct," Craig Cedotal, RN, a pediatric oncology nurse at Kaiser Permanente Oakland (Calif.) Medical Center, told the nurses' union. "It's never a reflection of what we need, but more a snapshot of what we've done." ... Hundreds of nurses protested AI at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center in April.

Private equity, consolidation divide aging services sector as multi-agency effort gets underwayMcKnight's Long-Term Care News; by Kimberly Marselas, Kimberly Bonvissuto; 6/10/24While some aging services providers last week warned that more scrutiny of healthcare consolidation and rules that seek to limit it further could create “unintended consequences,” others encouraged three federal agencies to proceed with promised work on the issue. Private equity ownership is associated with increases in short-term mortality of Medicare patients, as well as declines in other quality measures of patient well-being, and reductions in staffing, services, supplies, or equipment, said LeadingAge, in comments authored by Jonathan Lips, vice president of Legal Affairs, citing research. They also acknowledged that another study using the government’s own data showed PE’s stake in the skilled nursing sector had declined to just 5% by 2022. Further research showed that slowdown persisted into 2023.