Literature Review

Role of hospital connectedness in brain metastasis outcomesJAMA Network Open; by Lilin Tong, Ruchit V Patel, Ayal A Aizer, Amar Dhand, Wenya Linda Bi; 9/23/24Is hospital connectedness associated with clinical outcomes of patients with brain metastases? In this cohort study of 4679 patients with brain metastases in Massachusetts, increased connectedness of a hospital, defined as the weighted sum of ties to other care facilities, was associated with improved inpatient mortality. Hospital connectedness operated independently from hospital volume in its association with inpatient mortality and length of stay. These findings suggest that relationships between hospitals are associated with changes in patient outcomes in the interdisciplinary care of patients with brain metastases, likely owing to specialized and interdisciplinary care required in the disease management.

Blumenauer proposes overhaul to Hospice Benefit: If enacted, the legislation would be the single most significant update to the hospice benefit and payment structure since its inception in 1982.U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Washington, DC; Press Release; 9/26/24Today, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, introduced the Hospice Care Accountability, Reform and Enforcement Act (Hospice CARE Act) to modernize Medicare’s hospice benefit, which has remained largely unchanged since its inception in 1982. The proposal comes as egregious reportsof fraud and abuse within the benefit persist, despite action from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The legislation is the product of years of collaboration between stakeholders, lawmakers, and industry leaders. It builds on Blumenauer’s decades-long commitment to ensure the federal government supports families at a time of great stress and vulnerability: the end of life. 

Utilization of inpatient palliative care services in cardiac arrest complicating acute pulmonary embolismResuscitation Plus; by Aryan Mehta, Mridul Bansal, Chirag Mehta, Ashwin A Pillai, Salman Allana, Jacob C Jentzer, Corey E Ventetuolo, J Dawn Abbott, Saraschandra Vallabhajosyula; 9/24The role of palliative care services in patients with cardiac arrest complicating acute pulmonary embolism has been infrequently studied. Palliative care services are used in only 16.8 % of admissions with cardiac arrest complicating pulmonary embolism with significant differences in the populations, suggestive of selective consultation.

End-of-life emergency department use and healthcare expenditures among older adults: A nationally representative studyJournal of the American Geriatrics Society; by Cameron J Gettel, Courtney Kitchen, Craig Rothenberg, Yuxiao Song, Susan N Hastings, Maura Kennedy, Kei Ouchi, Adrian D Haimovich, Ula Hwang, Arjun K Venkatesh; 9/24Emergency department (ED) visits at end-of-life may cause financial strain and serve as a marker of inadequate access to community services and health care. We sought to examine end-of-life ED use, total healthcare spending, and out-of-pocket spending in a nationally representative sample. One in three older adults visit the ED in the last month of life, and approximately one in two utilize ED services in the last half-year of life, with evidence of associated considerable total and out-of-pocket spending.

Sarah Bush Lincoln's Hospice Binga raises record amount for endowment Effingham Daily News & SBL Hospice press release; 9/24/24 Sarah Bush Lincoln’s Hospice Binga event raised a record amount on September 3, netting more than $33,000 to support the Willow Breeze Hospice House Endowment. Since opening in January, Willow Breeze offers a beautiful home-like atmosphere where skilled care is provided to people in East Central and Southern Illinois to stay during their final days while also offering amenities for their families who visit. Earnings from the endowment help those with limited resources pay for their stay. Most insurances will cover hospice care, but not room and board. 

BREAKING NEWS: 9/27/2024 11:45 am - Blumenauer proposes overhaul to Hospice Benefit: If enacted, the legislation would be the single most significant update to the hospice benefit and payment structure since its inception in 1982.

Hospices delve into PACE, dementia care amid calls for change Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 9/25/24 ... Some hospices have dug deeper into the PACE program landscape as an avenue to reach patients further upstream and improve utilization and access. These programs can help hospices provide better coordinated care and help patients and their families navigate a fragmented health care system and complex web of community resources, according to Liz Fowler, president and CEO of Bluegrass Care Navigators. The Lexington, Kentucky-based hospice provider launched a PACE program in 2022. These programs are an opportunity for hospices to evolve end-of-life care models that better address social determinants of health, particularly among some of the most underserved patient populations within their service regions, Fowler stated. “PACE programs are more upstream and will hopefully allow us to care for more individuals earlier on and make connections with more diverse communities earlier as well when they see us as a trusted health care provider,” Fowler said. “The big thing with PACE programs is that they are for individuals with very high needs of complex care, and we readily address all their health care needs but also things like food, isolation and loneliness. ...”

NY home care agency pays $400K in racial prejudice lawsuit A home care agency in Brooklyn, NY, was ordered to pay $400,000 to settle a race and national origin discrimination lawsuit filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. ACARE HHC Inc., doing business as Four Seasons Licensed Home Health Care Agency, routinely assigned home health aides based on clients’ racial preferences, according to a consent order filed with the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. These workers, which included Black and Hispanic aides, would either be transferred to new client assignments based on clients’ wishes or lose their employment entirely, EEOC found. These practices were a violation of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employers from making job assignments based on workers’ race or national origin. Four Seasons will pay $400,000 in monetary relief for the home health aides affected, according to the consent order. It will also update its internal policies and training processes related to Civil Rights Act requirements, cease making home health aide assignments based on clients’ race or nationality preferences, and provide semi-annual reports to the EEOC regarding any reports or complaints surrounding race discrimination.

Celebrate patients’ creativity ehospice; by Fair Havens Hospice, United Kingdom; 9/23/24 Fair Havens hospice recently held an inspiring art exhibition to showcase patients’ artwork produced during a range of wellbeing sessions. The exhibition at Fair Havens hospice in Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, showcased over 30 pieces of artwork, including acrylics and watercolours to embroidery and creative writing, all created by patients living with incurable illnesses. There was also the opportunity for people to get creative and take part in activities such as pebble painting and memory box decorating. The artwork on show had all been created by adults supported by the hospices’ Wellbeing Team through various creative therapy workshops and one-to-one sessions. ... Amongst some of the artwork were collages created in the ‘I AM’ workshop, which aimed to provide a space for patients to reflect on the things that are most important to them and express this using colour, textures, and words.

The crisp air of September is a reminder to embrace change like the trees embrace new colors. 

The competitive physician recruitment market: 5 trends Becker's Hospital Review; by Mariah Taylor; 9/24/24 Both physician recruiting and compensation have become more competitive as market disruptors have entered the field, according to AMN Healthcare's "Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives," published Aug. 5 The report is based on a representative sample of 2,138 search engagements AMN Healthcare conducted from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024. The data includes starting salary and other incentives offered to physicians and advanced practice professionals nationwide. ... Here are five trends in physician recruitment:

Spending on home healthcare outpaces others for 4th consecutive month McKnights Senior Living; by Kathleen Steele Gaivin; 9/26/24 Spending on home healthcare continued to outpace the rest of the sector in August, according to Altarum’s monthly Health Sector Economic Indicators brief, released Wednesday. “This is the fourth successive month in which we have observed such rapid growth. Year-over-year home healthcare spending growth for the four-month period from April through July was 19.7%,” George Miller, PhD, Altarum fellow and research team leader, told the McKnight’s Business Daily. Overall, healthcare costs were 2.7% higher last month than they were in August 2023 and 0.2% percent lower than they were in July, according to Altarum. ... Nursing and residential care employment, however, declined by 2,600 jobs in August. ...

Clearing a path for diverse leadership Becker's Hospital Review; by Mariah Taylor; 9/20/24 Creating a diverse nurse workforce and leadership team takes intentionality. "Diversity doesn't happen by itself. It takes effort, thought and planning," Jesus Cepero, PhD, RN, chief nursing officer, senior vice president patient care services at Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Medicine Children's Health, told Becker's. Dr. Cepero first joined Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford four years ago and said part of what made him comfortable joining was seeing the diverse team of executives already at the hospital. "Since then, our diversity at the executive level has grown," he said. "This shift has transformed our culture, promoting a sense of safety and belonging, which is key to fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce." Now, he oversees 3,500 employees and one of his priorities is to further diversity work at the system. Here are his three guidelines for building a more diverse workforce and leadership team: