Literature Review

Improving the value of serious illness careInnov Aging, by Brystana Kaufman; 12/23My Health and Aging Policy Fellowship placement with CMMI provides an opportunity to learn about the current policies impacting palliative care payment and process for developing new models. Palliative and hospice care has been one of the fasting growing health services in the U.S. and the VA over the past decade. Although Medicare’s hospice benefit requires a 6-months life expectancy, palliative care may be appropriate for seriously ill individuals depending on their clinical and psychosocial needs...

Mobile application–based communication facilitation platform for family members of critically ill patients: A randomized clinical trialJAMA Network, by Christopher E. Cox, MD, MPH; Deepshikha C. Ashana, MD, MBA, MS; Isaretta L. Riley, MD, MPH; Maren K. Olsen, PhD; David Casarett, MD; Krista L. Haines, DO; Yasmin Ali O’Keefe, MD; Mashael Al-Hegelan, MD, MBA; Robert W. Harrison, MD; Colleen Naglee, MD; Jason N. Katz, MD, MHS; Hongqiu Yang, PhD; Elias H. Pratt, MD; Jessie Gu, MD; Katelyn Dempsey, MPH; Sharron L. Docherty, RN, PNP, PhD; Kimberly S. Johnson, MD; 1/24Can a mobile application–based primary palliative care intervention targeting intensive care unit (ICU) physicians and family members improve unmet palliative care needs overall, and are there different outcomes by race? Findings suggest that a mobile application is a promising primary palliative care intervention for ICU clinicians that directly addresses the limited supply of palliative care specialists.

Default palliative care consultation for seriously ill hospitalized patients: A pragmatic cluster randomized trialJAMA Network, by Katherine R. Courtright, MD, MS; Vanessa Madden, BSc; Brian Bayes, MS, MBMI; Marzana Chowdhury, PhD; Casey Whitman, MS; Dylan S. Small, PhD; Michael O. Harhay, PhD; Suzanne Parra, RN; Elizabeth Cooney-Zingman, MPH; Mary Ersek, RN, PhD; Gabriel J. Escobar, MD; Sarah H. Hill, PhD; Scott D. Halpern, MD, PhD; 1/16/24Does ordering palliative care by default (allowing opt-out) increase consultation and improve clinical outcomes? Default palliative care consult orders did not reduce length of stay for older inpatients with advanced chronic illnesses, but improved the rate and timing of consultation and some end-of-life care processes.Publisher note: JAMA Network published two palliative care clinical trials in this issue (1: Default palliative care consultation for seriously ill hospitalized patients: A pragmatic cluster randomized trial, and 2: Nurse and social worker palliative telecare team and quality of life in patients with COPD, heart failure, or interstitial lung disease: The ADAPT randomized clinical trial). There is also an editorial on both of these articles: A tale of 2 palliative care trials: Developing sustainable and transferable models by Ashwin A. Kotwal, MD, MS; Lauren J. Hunt, RN, PhD; Alexander K. Smith, MD, MS, MPH, and an audio interview with Alexander K. Smith, MD, MS, MPH, Patient-centered palliative care.

Saturday NewslettersResearch literature is the focus of Saturday newsletters - enjoy!

Widespread health care disparities revealed: Hardships for minority kids start at birthUSA Today, by Adrianna Rodriguez; 1/18/24Black and Hispanic children receive universally worse medical care than their white peers, starting from the moment they’re born and spanning across all specialties, according to a comprehensive five-year review. ... They found widespread racial and ethnic disparities in care, treatment and health outcomes across all pediatric specialties, including neonatology, primary care, emergency medicine, critical care, surgery, mental health, developmental disabilities, endocrinology and palliative, or end-of-life, care, ...

Role matters in understanding 'quality' in palliative care: a qualitative analysis of patient, caregiver and practitioner perspectivesBMJ Open, by Laura M Holdsworth, Karleen Giannitrapani, Raziel C Gamboa, Claire O'Hanlon, Nainwant Singh, Anne Walling, Charlotta Lindvall, Karl Lorenz; 1/17/24Objectives: To compare the discussions from two panels on the concept of palliative care quality for patients with advanced cancer, exploring the priorities reflected in each group's perspectives.

Predictive analytics in action: How machine learning is driving successful outcomes for value-based end of life programsSenior Housing News, by Sophie Knoelke; 1/17/24Based on a discussion with Jordan Holland and Mark Bailes of VNS HealthHolland: "We are using predictive analytics to identify patients that are in that end-of-life stage, and then intervening on those patients earlier through a palliative-centric model. We take a full view of an individual’s health across the continuum. Then, we identify what the right clinical model is for their individual situation -the technologies, the analytics to help successfully deploy that model."

KKR-backed BrightSpring targets $3 billion valuation for long-awaited US IPOReuters; 1/17/24KKR-backed BrightSpring Health Services set a target of an around $3.01 billion valuation on Wednesday for its long-awaited initial public offering in the United States. The company, which caters to patients facing complex or chronic medical conditions, is moving towards a listing after previously pursuing it in 2021.

Congressional advisors grapple with Medicare Advantage data that reveals plenty on excess, but not much on accessMcKnight's Long-Term Care News, by Kimberly Marselas; 1/16/24Medicare Advantage risk scores continue to rise, inflating payments to the private plans that far exceed their actual costs, staff for a Congressional advisory commission warned members Friday. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services uses risk scores, based on patient demographics and their needs, to establish payments to plans during each bid season. 

Penn Medicine provides parents tools to grieve and heal after lossPenn Medicine News, by Kim Maialetti; 1/11/24Perinatal loss is not uncommon in the United States. According to the Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance, 30 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage and 21,000 babies are stillborn each year. Additionally, more than three of every 1,000 babies born die before 28 days of life and more than five of every 1,000 die before their first birthday.

US Senate launches investigation of assisted living after lay media reports about safety, staffing, pricingMcKnight's Senior Living, by Kimberly Bonvissuto; 1/17/24The US Senate Special Committee on Aging is launching a review of the assisted living industry following recent articles in the Washington Post, which reported on the deaths of residents who wandered from communities, as well as the New York Times and KFF, which scrutinized an industry pricing structure that adds fees on top of basic charges to cover additional services, as well as rate increases and the for-profit status of most providers.

Lions fan in hospice care dyes hair Honolulu Blue to support the teamABC 12 News WJRT, Saginaw Townshiop, MI, by Terry Camp; 1/17/24... Larry Benjamin, 83, has entered hospice care, but this Lions season and now the playoff win has given him a lot of joy. He wants everyone to get behind the Lions, and his show of support has gone viral.