Literature Review

Providers push lawmakers to make telehealth provisions permanent McKnights Home Care, by Foster Stubbs; 3/11/24 More than 200 healthcare organizations including LeadingAge and the National Association for Home Care & Hospice recently signed a letter to congressional leadership urging the permanent adoption of telehealth provisions affecting Medicare beneficiaries. Current provisions, which are set to expire at the end of the year, allow beneficiaries to access telehealth services in their home. 

Health networks in nursing: limitless possibilities

5 hospitals seeking CEOs Becker's Hospital Review, by Kelly Gooch; 3/11/24 Here are five hospitals that recently posted job listings seeking CEOs.|

79 best hospitals for patient experience, safety: Healthgrades Becker's Clinical LeadershipHealthgrades recognized 832 hospitals with its 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Awards and Outstanding Patient Experience Award. Only 79 of those hospitals received both awards. The dual recipients spanned 27 states. Texas had the most dual recipients with 13 honorees — including four Baylor Scott and White Health and four Houston Methodist hospitals. [Click here for] the 79 hospitals that received both Patient Safety Excellence and Outstanding Patient Experience awards, listed by state.

Death Cafes in Duluth aim to make end of life something more normal to talk about ABC WDIO; 3/11/24 Talking about death can be difficult and daunting. A Duluth woman who’s an estate attorney wants to change that. Amy Kuronen just hosted her first Death Cafe. Nine people attended, and it was an open ended conversation without an agenda. ... It’s not a grief support group, although you can mention your grief. It’s more about connecting and sharing. Editor's Note: Are you aware of Death Cafes in your area? Do their representatives have relevant information about your hospice and palliative care services?

Home Care costs continue to increase, outpacing other long-term care settings Home Health Care News, by Andrew Donlan; 3/12/24 The pricing increases in home care have again outpaced other long-term care sectors, according to Genworth’s annual cost of care report. 

Can we make more accurate prognoses during last days of life?Journal of Palliative Medicine; by Sylvie Bouchard, Andreea Paula Iancu, Elena Neamt, François Collette, Sylvie Dufresne, Patricia Maureen Guercin, Suganthiny Jeyaganth, Desanka Kovacina, Taliá Malagón, Laurie Musgrave, Marilisa Romano, Jenny Wong, Sybil Skinner-Robertson; 3/8/24Background: ... Established methods (Palliative Performance Scale [PPS], Palliative Prognostic Index [PPI]) have been validated for intermediate- to long-term prognoses, but last-weeks-of-life prognosis has not been well studied. Patients admitted to a palliative care facility often have a life expectancy of less than three weeks. Reliable last-weeks-of-life prognostic tools are needed. Conclusions: ... Using SPS [Short-Term Prognosis Signs] along with PPS and PPI during the last weeks of life could enable a more precise short-term survival prediction across various end-of-life diagnoses. The translation of this research into clinical practice could lead to a better adapted treatment, the identification of a most appropriate care setting for patients, and improved communication of prognosis with patients and families.

Jimmy Carter has spent over a year in hospice care. How has he defied the odds? Northeastern Global News, by Tanner Stening; 3/12/24 End-of-life advocates and experts cite Carter’s stay in hospice as having a positive impact on the discourse of end-of-life care, which Northeastern University experts say many people put off until it’s too late. ... According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 90% of patients who enter hospice care die within the first six months. Roughly 36% of patients die within a week of entering hospice.Editor's Note: This article includes an important, transparent piece of information that many articles about President Carter's 1-year hospice anniversary have not mentioned: "If the patient lives past six months, the medical professionals would need to recertify the patient for continued care." Click here for the CMS "Face-to-Face Requirement Affecting Hospice Recertification."

[ALS] Controlling what can be controlled: Palliative Care ALS Association [Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease]; 3/13/24 “Palliative care specialists can help people determine and define what are the ‘everyday things’ that matter to them. Some people may already know what these are but may not have had an opportunity to share this information with their health care team,” Dr. Mehta says. “Others may not know they can share this with their health care team. They may not know where to find help with these ‘everyday things.’ [Dr. Ambereen K. Mehta, MD, MPH, FAAHPM, associate professor of palliative care in the Departments of Medicine and Neurology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine]Editor's Note: Are your palliative care services connected with your local ALS Association? This page on the ALS website describes beautifully the benefits of palliative care as soon as the diagnosis occurs. 

Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.  ―  Wayne W. Dyer

Nearly 53% of hospices undergo multiple audits simultaneouslyHospice News, by Jim Parker; 3/12/24Program integrity and an onslaught of audits are top of mind for many hospice providers in 2024. The nation’s four largest hospice industry organizations — LeadingAge, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC), the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) — in late 2023 conducted a 133-respondent provider survey focused on regulation. ... About 52.9% reported having multiple audits, each of a different type, within six months of one another, and 31% said they were required to submit the same charts for each of these audits.

CMS Statement on continued action to respond to the cyberattack on change healthcareCMS.gov Press Release; 3/9/24 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is continuing to monitor and assess the impact that the cyberattack on UnitedHealth Group’s subsidiary Change Healthcare has had on all provider and supplier types. Today, CMS is announcing that, in addition to considering applications for accelerated payments for Medicare Part A providers, we will also be considering applications for advance payments for Part B suppliers. 

New book addresses prolonged grief disorder diagnosis and treatmentHospice Foundation of America, press release 2/26/24Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) today announced the publication of Understanding Prolonged Grief Disorder, written and edited by some of the nation’s leading grief experts and healthcare professionals. Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is a new diagnosis in the most recent version of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed., text rev.) Inclusion of PGD validates the occurrence of a disorder characterized by the persistence of pervasive, intense grief. With the possible exception of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this is the first time a loss-related condition has been identified as a diagnosable condition.