Literature Review

What I've what I've seen is, you know, sometimes you have friendly rivalries in the hospice and palliative care world. That's gone. We're all family right now and that--I just whew--that moves me to tears. That's the type of stuff that's like, you know what? Ok, that gives me hope that we are going to get beyond this. ~ Chris Comeaux, 10/2/24, near Asheville, NC, describing his hospice leadership experiences in the midst of Hurricane Helene's aftermath

Patient safety experts want progress on quality measure alignmentModern Healthcare; by Mari Devereaux; 9/30/24Patient safety leaders say standardization is needed to prevent overlapping, conflicting reporting requirements that don’t improve health outcomes. Some are hopeful the industry could see progress in the next few years. Until then, overburdened providers are choosing to report on a handful of quality measures they decide are the most important.Publisher's note: Thinking of Joanne Lynn's efforts to standardize publicly available quality measures at the turn of the century - we'll get there!

The HOPE assessment tool: What you need to know [free webinar from CHAP]CHAP press release; 10/2/24The HOPE assessment tool kicks off in 2025 and will catalyze hospice care to a new level. CMS developed the HOPE tool to inform future quality measure development and payment reform, eventually moving hospice from pay-for-submission to pay-for-performance. This session will describe the implementation of the HOPE assessment tool, content highlights, and its impact on hospice program operations in the next several years.Publisher's note: Dr. Jennifer Kennedy and Kim Skehan from CHAP are presenting this free webinar 10/16/24 @ 1:00-2:00 PM ET. Please click the link above for addtional and registration information.

How Mass General Brigham built the largest 'hospital at home'Becker's Health IT; by Giles Bruce; 10/1/24Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham has built the biggest hospital-at-home program in the country by getting buy-in from leadership and clinicians and through tech partnerships, executives said at a recent conference. The health system now has a capacity for acute hospital care at home of 70 patients, and is currently treating about 50 to 60 a day. The goal is to move to 10% of Mass General Brigham's overall capacity, or about 200 to 300 patients.Publisher's note: How might this be an opportunity for hospice? How might it be a threat?

Maybe we should select leaders based on their characterForbes; by Joyce E. A. Russell; 10/1/24When we hire leaders for our organizations and communities, shouldn’t we pick them based on not only their expertise and ability to do the job, but also their character? Over two decades ago, prominent leadership researchers Kouzes and Posner published a book called Credibility. In their research, they noted that across the globe credibility was the most highly rated and important characteristic of leaders. They stated that, “most of us admire leaders who are honest, forward-looking, inspiring, and competent.” They followed that up with another book with even more evidence called The Truth about Leadership, where they noted that credibility is the foundation of leadership for organizations across the world, and this is based on international data across multiple generations.

Nurses' top 10 AI concernsBecker's Health IT; by Giles Bruce; 10/1/24Nearly a quarter of nurses are uncomfortable with artificial intelligence's use in healthcare, according to an Oct. 1 McKinsey & Co. report. Here are nurses' top 10 concerns about AI, per the management consultant's joint survey with the American Nurses Foundation of 7,200 nurses:

Helene and Hospice: "We're seeing such personal sacrifices ... It's heartwarming and heartbreaking ..."Hospice & Palliative Care Today; Zoom meeting with Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN), Chris Comeaux and Tina Gentry; 10/2/24[These excerpts are from a Zoom meeting between TCN's leaders Chris Comeaux (Hendersonville, NC just outside of Asheville, NC) and Tina Gentry (Fort Mill, SC) and this newsletter's leaders Cordt Kassner and Joy Berger. Click here for the longer transcription. Continue reading for ways you can help.] Chris Comeaux: There's great tragedy, great devastation, and there are beautiful miracles occurring at the same time. … I know I'm going to keep using words like historic, unprecedented, devastating. There are not even words to describe what we’re seeing. ... Tina Gentry: It's just heart wrenching. You want to be able to go and fix things and you just can't do it, right? You don't feel like you can do enough. And knowing that there are certain limitations and that we have to rely on other resources to help support our teams. We have to do what we can and then trust that others will do what they can to help.  ...Chris Comeaux: All of our all staff is accounted for. Some are still without water, electricity. [Some] staff compared at Four Seasons [Hospice], CCWNC [Community Care of Western North Carolina], Amorem staff … have completely lost their homes. They’re gone. We have a wonderful partner that serves many of our hospices. Yesterday, they found the body of their dear neighbor. They can't even get to their house. It would be a 10-mile hike through things that today--in modern days--you would go, “How is that possible?” … I've always heard the word, “aftermath.” I now understand what people mean by “aftermath.” ...Tina Gentry: … We’re seeing such personal sacrifices from those team members on the ground. It’s really heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time. ...Chris Comeaux: … What I've seen is, sometimes you have friendly rivalries in the hospice and palliative care world. That's gone. We're all family right now and that--I just, whew--that moves me to tears. That's the type of stuff that's like, you know what? Ok, that gives me hope that we are going to get beyond this. ... [See this in Today's Encouragement.]Key Themes:

Bringing Penelope home The Chronicle of The Horse; by Sarah K. Susa; 10/1/2024 Angie was 35 when she, her husband, and son moved into their first home. It was red brick with a big picture window and a pasture out front where their horses could graze. It was almost a dream come true. Almost, because Angie was dying. The lump she’d found just two years earlier had metastasized, multiple times. In the beginning doctors cut off both breasts, hoping to take the cancer with them. But the disease was stealthy, hiding somewhere inside, then popping up here and there: liver, lymph nodes, spine, brain. She was pumped full of chemo. Blasted with radiation. Time and again, surgeons opened her up, removing any fragments of the disease that they could. Then they’d stitch her back together, hoping to buy her more time. But eventually, Angie was told, there was nothing more to do. Hospice was called. A hospital bed in Angie’s new living room allowed her to watch the horses graze from the picture window, her favorite feature of the house. Her son, just 5, would perch on the window’s deep sill, quietly building Legos and trying to process what was happening around him. And it was all happening so fast. 

EEOC sues AccentCare Home Health Care company for pay discrimination and retaliation U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Press Release; 9/27/24 AccentCare, a nationwide home health care service company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, violated federal civil rights laws by paying female employees less than a male colleague because of their sex and retaliating against a female employee who repeatedly complained, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, female Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) working out of AccentCare’s Pottsville, Pennsylvania, location were paid less than their male colleague for performing equal work, despite their superior qualifications. After a female LPN repeatedly complained about the gender-based pay disparity and requested a raise, AccentCare retaliated against her, and ultimately fired her. Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibits pay discrimination based on sex and retaliation for opposing sex discrimination.

‘Much-needed hospice … vital to our community:’ Mayor Elizabeth Roy salutes Whitby Hospice breaking ground after 8-year effort, millions raised and tireless efforts by volunteers DurhamRegion.com, Durham, NC: by Tim Kelly; 9/29/24 After many years of hard work and fundraising by dedicated volunteers, Hospice Whitby — Roger Anderson House is about to break ground. For the chief organizers on the committee Hospice Whitby committee, it was time to really enjoy the moment and they made a video to celebrate it. With the building of Whitby’s hospice, the region will have gone from no hospice beds at all to 29 in under five years. 

CMS finalizes rule to curtail major DME fraud concernsMcKnight's Home Care; by Adam Healy; 9/26/24The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized a rule this week that will help it better track anomalous and highly suspicious billing activity for durable medical equipment. The rule allows CMS to more closely monitor two Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) billing codes for urinary catheters: A4352, an intermittent urinary catheter with a curved tip, and A4353, an intermittent urinary catheter with insertion supplies. These two billing codes were behind what may be the largest case of Medicare fraud in the program’s history. In February, the National Association of ACOs (NAACOS) uncovered evidence that fraudsters had used the two codes to loot as much as $3 billion or more from government health programs.

The road ahead: 2 pressures framing the future of hospice care Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 10/1/24 The workforce shortage and value-based care will shape the future of hospice, according to some providers. The health care reimbursement environment is moving towards significant change. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has signaled its intention to align every Medicare beneficiary with a value-based payment system by 2030. To keep pace, hospice providers must start preparing now, according to Phil Ward, president and CEO of Community Hospice of Northeast Florida. We’re implementing quality movement projects now. So that when these changes come we’re not taken by surprise,” Ward said at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) Annual Leadership Conference. ... The second major force that could mold the industry’s future is the staffing shortage, Leigh Anderson, medical director for Our Hospice of Indiana, said during the NHPCO conference. This includes issues like turnover, nurse-to-patient ratios and health care worker burnout, she said.