Literature Review

A little help from your friends... Jennifer Hale, MSN, RN, CHPN, CPHQA little help from your friends is a memorial fund set up for Jennifer Hale's family. If interested, you can read more about it and donate here. Donations accepted 6/30/24 - 7/15/24. ... We recently announced Jennifer Hale unexpectedly died Friday, 6/21/24. Vice President of Quality and Standards at Compassus, former Vice President Clinical Services at Optum Palliative Care and Hospice, and former Executive Director of the Georgia Hospice & Palliative Care Organization, Jennifer was widely known, respected, and loved in the hospice community. We share our condolences with her family, friends, and colleagues. Her obituary is posted here.

Factors affecting palliative care collaboration with pain medicine specialists Clinical Pain Advisor; by James Maitlall, MD; 6/27/24 Structured collaboration between physicians working in palliative care (PC) and pain medicine (PM) may increase PC physician referral of seriously ill patients to PM specialists and potentially optimize their care, according to study results published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. ... In a survey study, a multicenter team of investigators explored attitudes and beliefs among US PC physicians regarding PM specialists, as well as factors potentially impacting collaboration between physicians in these 2 areas of practice. ... The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) approved the survey for distribution to 1000 of its physician members, who were selected at random. ... The investigators concluded, “Although we found that PC physicians have highly positive attitudes about the value of PM specialists, referral rates remain low, even for IDDS implantation, which has perhaps the largest body of evidence for patients with complex cancer-associated pain.”  

Nonprofit that assisted cancer patients donates remaining funds to Hospice of Texarkana Texarkana Gazette, Texarkana, TX; by Gazette Staff; 6/28/24 The Angel Fund Foundation has voted to dissolve as a nonprofit and donate its remaining of approximately $148,000 of funds to Hospice of Texarkana. Founded in 2006 by cancer survivor Beth Morgan, The Angel Fund Foundation helped cancer patients in the community for two decades, according to a news release from Hospice of Texarkana. "We feel fortunate that Beth Morgan and the Angel Fund Foundation Board have chosen Hospice of Texarkana as the recipient of the remaining assets," said Cindy Marsh, Hospice of Texarkana Executive Director. "After meeting with Mrs. Morgan and gaining clarity on her wishes for the dissolution of funds, it seemed like a perfect transition to provide hospice care for cancer patients with those funds," Marsh said.

Amedisys to divest certain home health locations to VitalCaring, clearing path for UnitedHealth Group deal Home Health Care News; by Andrew Donlan; 6/28/24 Amedisys Inc. filed paperwork Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission saying it has agreed to divest “certain” locations to an affiliate of home health and hospice company VitalCaring. The divestiture was a way for Amedisys to avoid further antitrust concerns from regulators prior to it joining UnitedHealth Group. UnitedHealth Group’s Optum agreed to purchase Amedisys last June for a purchase price of $3.3 billion. Optum already owns LHC Group, another one of the largest home health companies in the country.

Families, volunteers share stories of finding peace through hospice Salina Post; by Cristina Janney, Hays Post; 6/29/24 This is a two-part series on hospice care in northwest Kansas. Dalene Juenemann and her father, Dean, had to make the difficult decision to enter hospice care after he was diagnosed with bladder cancer. “He was just such a social guy and someone was in a couple times a week,” she said. “They were checking in on him and it was that security blanket he had.” ... He didn’t want to go through aggressive chemo and he didn’t qualify for a bladder removal because of his age. “He chose quality of life,” she said. "It was that final decision that we are done with everyone wanting a piece of me. I'm just going to enjoy life," she said. Dalene's father, Dean Shearer, was a patient of NWKareS, Hospice of Northwest Kansas, which serves 16 counties from Interstate 70 to the Nebraska border and Trego County to the Colorado border. ... She said the extra care hospice offered allowed her to just be a daughter to her father as he was dying. [Click on the title's link to continue reading stories from families and volunteers at NWKAreS.]

Community Hospice & Palliative Care, a subsidiary of Alivia Care, Inc., becomes last remaining not-for-profit hospice provider [in North Florida] PR.com - Alivia Care, Inc. Press Releases, Gainesville, FL; 6/29/24 With recent changes in end-of-life care, North Florida residents may notice a shift as Haven, a long-standing provider in the region, transitions due to acquisition by a for-profit health care company, BrightSpring Health Services. As this transition takes place, Community Hospice & Palliative Care, a subsidiary of Alivia Care, Inc., wishes to express its continued dedication to providing compassionate, community-based care to individuals and families in the community. "We understand that transitions in healthcare can be challenging for our community," said Phillip Ward, President, and CEO of Community Hospice & Palliative Care. "However, we want to reassure everyone that our dedication to serving our neighbors with compassion, dignity, and unwavering commitment remains as strong as ever."

How the Supreme Court’s Chevron Decision could help stop home health cuts Home Health Care News; by Andrew Donlan; 6/28/24 On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court upended the Chevron doctrine precedent. For home health industry purposes, that means a potentially weakened Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) moving forward. The news comes just two days after the home health proposed payment rule was released, which included significant cuts for the third straight year. Broadly, moving away from the Chevron precedent – usually known as the Chevron doctrine – will mean less regulatory power for government agencies. Government agencies often take their own interpretations of certain laws and statutes, and then act upon those interpretations. ... The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) already filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and CMS over rate cuts in 2023. “In our own analysis, we believe that providers of home health have been underpaid as it relates to budget neutrality,” NAHC President William A. Dombi said when the lawsuit was filed. “At minimum, we would expect to see the rate cuts from 2023, that were permanent readjustments to the base rate, and the one proposed for 2024, along with the temporary adjustments … to go away. The end product of that is that we would have a stable system to deliver home health services to Medicare beneficiaries.”

NAHC-NHPCO Alliance Transition Board met for 1st time last weekNAHC press release; 7/1/24Today, July 1, 2024, is the first day of the NAHC-NHPCO Alliance. While the two organizations will continue to operate separately in some areas until the end of the year, they are now governed by a single body, the Transition Board, which held its inaugural meeting last week. “This is an important step in the process of transitioning from our fiduciary duties as governing bodies of NAHC and NHPCO respectively, to a singular focus on our duties of care, obedience and loyalty to what is now the merged entity,” said Alliance Transition Board Chair Ken Albert. “From July 1 on, we are NAHC-NHPCO Alliance (soon to be named)..." Until the Alliance hires a new CEO, Bill Dombi and Ben Marcantonio will be acting as co-CEOs of the organization, and will be closely consulting with each other on all important matters. Below is a full list of attendees at the Transition Board meeting.

Optum to pay $20M to settle improper prescription allegations Becker's Hospital Review; by Rylee Wilson; 6/28/24 OptumRx will pay $20 million to settle allegations it improperly dispensed some opioid medications, the Justice Department said June 27. The settlement resolves an investigation into if OptumRx improperly filled certain opioid prescriptions between 2013 and 2015. The Justice Department alleged the pharmaceutical benefit manager improperly dispensed opioids in combination with other drugs, including benzodiazepines and muscle relaxants, from its mail-order pharmacy operations in Carlsbad, Calif. Opioids prescribed alongside benzodiazepines and muscle relaxants are commonly referred to as "trinity" prescriptions. These prescriptions raise red flags that the drugs may not be for legitimate medical use, and could lead to the diversion of controlled substances, the Justice Department said. In its investigation, the department alleged OptumRx dispensed trinity prescriptions without resolving red flags. OptumRx does not admit liability as part of the settlement.

[Four-day workweeks:] A flexibility trend gaining steam in nursing Becker's Clinical Leadership; by Erica Carbajal; 6/26/24 A growing number of health systems are embracing  four-day workweeks for nurse leaders — a strategy that has helped some boost recruitment, retention and staff engagement. Over the past year, the needs and well-being of nurse managers have come into focus, with hospitals and health systems taking a closer look at how to best support them in addition to bedside nurses. Survey findings have indicated nurse managers have a hard time fully disconnecting from work, and they crave much of the same work environment factors that front-line nurses do, such as the ability to take time off when needed and work-life balance support. As such, four-day schedules have increasingly become part of the conversation at many hospitals and health systems. 

AMA Advocacy 2024 efforts American Medical Association; by AMA; Updated June 2024, 6/27/24 There are far too many everyday practice challenges interfering with patient care. That’s why the American Medical Association is advocating to keep physicians at the head of the health care team, reform the Medicare physician payment system, relieve the burdens of overused prior authorizations and so much more. [Key advocacy efforts include:]

Proven tips for recruiting top talentTCN Talks; by Tina Houser; 6/26/24 We train for many events in life, like spelling bees and marathons. We also need to train the person interviewing candidates. Our interviewers are critical in selecting the right candidates who contribute to the company’s success and overall culture. Interviewers need training and essential resources to conduct effective and fair interviews in order to choose the best overall talent. ... There are five key elements to training interviewers. They range from simple to more complex but they are all equally important.