Literature Review

UCP Developing Scripted Series Based On ‘The In-Between’ Memoir From Hospice Nurse Hadley VlahosDeadlineDecember 1, 2023The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life’s Final Moments, a book about death, written by hospice nurse Hadley Vlahos is set to be turned into a scripted series. UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, has landed the rights to the project in a competitive situation. In The In-Between, Vlahos recounts the most impactful experiences she’s had with the people she’s worked with—from the woman who never once questioned her faith until she was close to death, to the older man seeing visions of his late daughter, to the young patient who laments that she spent too much of her short life worrying about what others thought of her—while also sharing her own fascinating journey.

2024 Hospice & Palliative Care Organization Education Calendar

Ready Pet Go! Meet the 125 lb. dog comforting people in hospice careWKYC-TV (Cleveland, OH)November 29, 2023Strongsville, OH—When your loved one is ready to move on to the other side, you hope they’ll find comfort in a place of peace, serenity, and care. At the Thomas P. Perciak Hospice of Southwest General, there’s someone there to help. His name is Winston. He’s an 8-year-old Bernese mountain dog, about 125 lbs., and is the biggest lover you’ll ever meet.

Let’s expand access to PACE to improve eldercareBy Shawn BloomModern HealthcareDecember 4, 2023... Today, PACE participants are, for the most part, those who receive both Medicare and Medicaid benefits. However, it could act as the desired model of care for millions of Medicare beneficiaries who aren’t eligible for Medicaid. In fact, many impartial experts and think tanks, such as the Milken Institute, the Bipartisan Policy Center, Duke University Margolis Center for Health Policy and AARP’s Public Policy Institute, have cited PACE as a potential solution for the nation’s eldercare crisis, which will only worsen as the baby boomers continue to flood the aging and nursing services infrastructure.[Editor’s Note: The author is President and CEO of the National PACE Association.]

This grief therapist draws on her own experience with loss to help othersOrange County RegisterNovember 30, 2023Claire Bidwell Smith is no stranger to grief. She lost both of her parents to cancer at a young age—her mother when she was 18, and her father when she was 25. “I entered into my adult life with a lot of grief and was just trying to figure out everything that had happened to me. After my mom died, everybody was like ‘You’ll be fine. You’re an adult, just go forward into your life.’ And I wasn’t fine. It was really, really hard.” ... Based in Santa Monica, Smith initially worked in hospice before starting a private practice as a grief therapist, now facilitating online grief support groups and in-person retreats. And she never stopped writing. Smith has published three nonfiction books about grief; her new book, “Conscious Grieving,” comes out in March 2024.

Humana Partners With CINQCARE To Deliver Home-Based Care To Medicare Advantage MembersHome Health Care NewsNovember 30, 2023Humana Inc. has formed a partnership with CINQCARE, a health care company that delivers care in the home and community. ... As part of the collaboration, the companies will serve Humana’s New York Medicare Advantage members in their homes.

InnovAge Acquires ConcertoCare PACE Programs.Home Health Care NewsDecember 1, 2023InnovAge (Nasdaq: INNV), one of the largest providers of the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) model, is expanding its footprint even further. On Friday, InnovAge announced it is acquiring two PACE programs in California from ConcertoCare, which is also a provider of home care and home-based primary care.[Editor’s Note: To read the InnovAge news release, click here.]

Hospice Savannah gives patients ornaments to record final messages from loved onesWSAV-TV (Savannah, GA)November 30, 2023Savannah, GA—It’s the gift that keeps giving. Holiday Voices is the only keepsake recordable ornament on the market. Each year owner Savannah Kelly donates boxes of the ornaments for patients to record a final message on for their loved ones to have.

High prices plague medical marijuana market in VirginiaWRIC-TV (Richmond, VA)November 29, 2023Richmond, VA—A new report is shedding light on the state of the medical marijuana industry in Virginia. The report found that because of high prices, fewer Virginians obtain medical cannabis through the state’s regulated market, compared to other states. ... The high cost means 90% of patients in Virginia obtain cannabis from sources other than Virginia’s medical market.

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Northwell’s operating income drops $104M in Q3Becker’s Hospital CFO ReportNovember 30, 2023New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health reported a $103.9 million drop in operating income in the third quarter, from a $92.4 million gain in the third quarter of 2022 to an $11.6 million loss in the third quarter of this year, according to financial documents published Nov. 29. Revenue increased 5.8% year over year to $4.1 billion while expenses increased 8.6% to $4.2 billion.

‘Plain old greed’—HCA nurses rally to denounce understaffing, unsafe conditions at hospitalsFlorida PhoenixNovember 30, 2023Judy Preuss, an ICU nurse at HCA Florida Oak Hill Hospital, joined the National Nurses Organizing Committee 13 years ago for the same reason she rallied Thursday afternoon in Tampa with colleagues from other parts of the country: Bargaining to fix understaffing. Oak Hill Hospital, where Preuss has worked for 18 years, is one of HCA Healthcare’s 46 hospitals in Florida. The nurses from the union representing 10,000 registered nurses across the U.S. held a rally at the HCA West Florida Division Office in Tampa.

Nursing Home Occupancy ‘Disappointingly Flat’ in November but States’ Medicaid Rebasing EncouragingSkilled Nursing NewsDecember 1, 2023Healthcare Real Estate Investment Trusts specializing in post-acute care facilities experienced “disappointingly flat” occupancy rates in November, according to investment analysts. BMO Capital Market’s Juan Sanabria highlighted the challenges faced by skilled nursing facilities in maintaining growth, with market share loss to home health. ... In terms of REIT exposure and risks, the note pointed out that SNF coverage appeared to have bottomed out as occupancy and labor availability had improved. This trend is evident from recent quarterly earnings from several large publicly-traded REITs.