Literature Review

Life support decisions are usually made within 72 hours. Is that too soon? Advisory Board; by Daily Briefing; 5/21/24After a patient suffers a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and is on a ventilator, when is the right time to withdraw life support? A new study published in the Journal of Neurotrauma suggests that doctors and patient family members should wait a bit longer than usual. ... The researchers found that the majority of patients whose life support wasn't withdrawn ended up dying in the hospital anyways within about six days. However, 42% of patients who continued life support recovered enough within the following year to have some level of independence, and a few even returned to their former lives.

End-of-life talks, planning benefit all racial groups, study finds McKnights Long-Term Care News; by Kristen Fischer ... Having formal advanced care planning (ACP) in place was linked to higher odds of receiving care that aligned with individuals’ goals, the researchers found. The study evaluated how ACP and goal-concordant care (GCC) — an approach that aims to meet the patient’s goal and includes ACP and conversations about care goals —  affected people of different races. The report was published on May 18 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.  The framework is especially important for people in racial or ethnic minority populations who have a greater risk of poor end-of-life outcomes and don’t receive GCC. ... Older adults are more likely to receive hospice care at the end of life compared to previous decades, but a lot of people still report care that didn’t meet their preferences, the authors noted.

Nurses Don't Trust Employers to Safely Implement AI Tools, Survey ShowsMedPage Today; by Shannon Firth; 5/16/24Predictive models, chatbots may undermine clinical judgment and compromise patient care, they say. Three out of five nurses said they don't trust their employer to place patient safety as the most important factor when using artificial intelligence (AI) tools, according to a survey from National Nurses United (NNU), the largest union of RNs in the U.S.

A disconnect between healthcare leaders, workersBecker's Hospital Review; by Mariah Taylor; 5/17/24A recent Indeed survey suggests that many workers do not intend to leave healthcare entirely, but rather break ties from individual employers due to dissatisfaction with the job, a recent Indeed survey suggests. The survey also cites a gap in perception between what the workers find important and what management thinks they find important. Indeed commissioned a survey of 1,014 healthcare job seekers and 489 professionals engaged in recruiting or hiring healthcare employees. Participants were surveyed between November and January. [Highlights include:]

Sanction-free InnovAge faces new challenges in Colorado, California during fiscal Q3McKnight's Home Care; by Adam Healy; 5/14/24InnovAge posted a loss in its third fiscal quarter, but executives of the for-profit Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly provider said business will only continue to improve as temporary headwinds fall by the wayside. “The company’s third quarter results were largely consistent with our expectations,” Patrick Blair, president and chief executive officer, said during a third quarter earnings call last week, according to a transcript. “We continue to see ongoing performance improvement in every facet of our operations which is driving greater stability in our financial results and increased confidence in our ability to deliver high-quality care and a great participant experience while also growing our top and bottom lines.” During the quarter ended March 31, InnovAge lost $6.1 million. That compares to a $7.3 million loss during the third fiscal quarter of 2023. Revenues grew by nearly 12% year-over-year to $193 million.

Hospital-at-home grows despite regulatory uncertaintyModern Healthcare; by Diane Eastabrook; 5/17/24Health systems and technology companies are betting big on home-based hospital care, despite regulatory uncertainty about the program’s future. Hospitals are bullish on at-home acute care because it can save money and make more beds available in their facilities for sicker patients. Medicare also pays health systems the same rate as it would for an inpatient admission. Since January, two health systems and 16 hospitals launched hospital-at-home programs under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver, bringing the total number of programs to 336 across 37 states, according to the agency’s website. More programs are slated to launch this year as Congress considers whether to extend the waiver beyond its Dec. 31 expiration date. Hospital-at-home allows certain patients to receive acute-level care where they live through telehealth and in-person visits, supplemented with remote patient monitoring. The concept gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic when CMS approved a waiver in 2020 to alleviate overcrowding in hospitals. Large health systems, including Mass General Brigham, Geisinger and the Cleveland Clinic have invested heavily in home-based acute care. Many smaller hospital systems are doing the same by leveraging in-home care technology.

Kaiser to sell $3.5B in PE funds: WSJBecker's Hospital CFO Report; by Alan Condon; 5/13/24Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente plans to sell up to $3.5 billion of holdings in private-equity funds due to cash constraints, The Wall Street Journal said in a May 12 report citing unnamed sources "familiar with the matter." Kaiser is working with investment bank Jefferies Financial Group to offload up to $3.5 billion of stakes to secondary buyers, but a spokesperson for the system told Becker's that the recent shift in investment out of private equity is not driven by liquidity concerns.

Have a heart – caregivers need care, tooAmerican Heart Association; 5/14/24Living with a chronic medical condition after surviving a heart attack or stroke may come with additional health and personal care needs. Often survivors must rely on a family member or close friend to help. However, there’s a growing body of scientific research that shows people who serve as unpaid caregivers may not be getting the care they need to live longer, healthier lives, according to the American Heart Association.

Cybersecurity execs share healthcare's biggest vulnerabilitiesModern Healthcare; by Brock E.W. Turner; 5/20/24A recent string of massive healthcare cybersecurity breaches has put data security leaders on edge. Recent incidents have shined a light on some of the most significant vulnerabilities at health systems. Here are four of the biggest, according to experts.

NAHC hails legislation to extend Hospital at Home Waiver Program NAHC Newsroom - National Association for Home Care & Hospice; Press Release; 5/20/24 The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) applauds the introduction in the United States Senate of the Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act of 2024, bipartisan legislation sponsored by Sen. Thomas Carper (D-De) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) to extend the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver program for five years.  The Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver program is due to expire on December 31, 2024, but this legislation would extend it for five additional years.

Montgomery Hospice & Prince George’s Hospice hires new Chief Executive OfficerPress release; 5/21/24Montgomery Hospice & Prince George’s Hospice is pleased to announce the selection of Karen Brubaker Miller, MSW, as the organization’s next Chief Executive Officer. Brubaker Miller’s tenure will start on July 1, succeeding Ann Mitchell, MPH, who was at the organization for the past 26 years. A licensed clinical social worker, Mrs. Brubaker Miller is a business and strategic minded leader with over 25 years of leadership experience working in the non-profit and for-profit hospice industry.

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. ~Nelson Mandela

New palliative care nonprofit encourages open, candid conversations about death, dying[NC] ABC 13 News; by Kimberly King; 5/16/24Swannanoa, NC (WLOS) - There’s a national movement among a segment of palliative and hospice care workers to help people facing a terminal illness find the strength to have more candid conversations around death. The goal is to ease the final days not only for the individual dying but for their loved ones at a most painful time. Dr. Aditi Sethi, a physician specializing in hospice and palliative care, founded the nonprofit Center for Conscious Living and Dying (CCLD) based in Swannanoa. Sethi’s work focuses on helping people come to terms with mortality and break the stigma of avoiding the hard conversations about it.