Literature Review

Writing condolence cards supports nurses as well as deceased patients’ families ONS Voice, by Casey S. Kennedy; 2/29/24During extended treatment and end-of-life care, patients, their family and caregivers, and the healthcare team can form close bonds and relationships. Those ties are abruptly severed when a patient dies, leaving each party to grieve alone. For healthcare professionals, sending a condolence card can provide closure for themselves and support for a deceased patient’s family, a team of nurses reported in an article published in the December 2023 issue of the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing.

Music therapy could help manage the pain of bereavementThe Conversation; 2/28/24Grief has always inspired songwriters. Popular songs including Let Me Go, by Gary Barlow, Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven and The Living Years by Mike and the Mechanics, were all written as a way of working through the grief of losing a loved one. ... Barlow’s Let Me Go, however, is a remarkably upbeat and joyful record, written from the perspective of the pop star’s stillborn daughter, Poppy.

Musician Mom Cat Janice dead at 31: 'Cat saw her music go places she never expected'People, by Jordan Green; 2/28/24In January, Janice went viral on TikTok after releasing the song "Dance You Outta My Head" inspired by her son. On Wednesday, musician Cat Janice died from cancer. The announcement of the singer-songwriter's death was made via a post on her Instagram account by her family. ... "We are eternally thankful for the outpouring of love that Catherine and our family have received over the past few months," the post continued. 

The Medicare Care Choices Model was associated with reductions in disparities in the use of hospice care for Medicare beneficiaries with terminal illnessHealth Serv Res by Matthew J Niedzwiecki, Lauren Vollmer Forrow, Jonathan Gellar, R Vincent Pohl, Arnold Chen, Lynn Miescier, Keith Kranker; 2/29/24 Conclusions: Medicare Choices Model (MCCM) increased hospice use and quality of end-of-life care for model enrollees from underserved groups and reduced disparities in hospice use and having multiple emergency department visits.

Many older adults don't receive palliative care before deathMedScape, by Marilynn Larkin; 2/28/24 "One of the challenges and a barrier to accessing palliative home care is the difficulty of predicting survival," Amy Hsu, PhD, an investigator at the Bruyère Research Institute in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, told Medscape Medical News. "Clinicians are good at prognosticating when a patient might be entering their last 3-6 weeks of life, but they have a harder time predicting if someone will survive 6 months or longer."  The team developed the Risk Evaluation for Support: Predictions for Elder-life in their Communities Tool (RESPECT) to see whether access to predicted survival data could inform conversations about a patient's status and palliative care needs. The study was published online on February 26 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The devil’s in the details: Hospice providers face Claim Denials for Election Statement technicalities JDSupra, by Lanchi Nguyen Bombalier and Charmaine Mech; 2/29/24Since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) paused much of its audit activity during the COVID Public Health Emergency, the most recent rounds of Medicare audit activity may represent the first “look” at the new Election Statement forms that many hospice providers adopted under the new Medicare election statement requirements effective in October 2020. Unfortunately, these initial audit results from the Medicare Administrative Contractors (“MACs”) suggest that hospice providers and MAC reviewers may not necessarily see eye-to-eye on what information must be included in the new Election Statement.

Bilingual patient navigation can improve palliative care outcomes for Hispanic patients Hospice News, by Holly Vossel; 2/28/24Bicultural and bilingual palliative patient navigator interventions may be a key to improving access to goal concordant care among Hispanic populations with serious illness, according to recent research. Researchers in a recent clinical trial sought to address whether integration of bilingual patient navigation interventions could improve palliative care outcomes in Hispanic patients with serious, noncancer illnesses.

Report of Hospice Election for Part D (Response File) U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services - Guidance Portal; 2/26/24 The purpose of this Change Request (CR) is to define the response file related to CR 13202. [Click on the title's link and follow prompts to download the Guidance Document.]

CMS finalizes important changes to Medicare enrollment requirements for hospice, home health providersJDSupra; 2/28/24The US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized important changes to the Medicare enrollment regulations applicable to hospices and home health agencies (HHAs), including increasing the level of screening that hospice providers are subject to and limiting a Medicare-enrolled hospice’s ability to change majority ownership to once every 36 months.

How death doulas support entire familiesCure, by Alex Biese; 2/27/24... Death doulas, also known as end-of-life doulas, “provide companionship, comfort, and guidance to those facing a terminal illness or death” via non-medical holistic support encompassing “emotional, spiritual, and practical care,” according to the International End-of-Life Doula Association.

Unexpected Fatality Review Committee Report UFR-23-017Washington State Legislature; 2/27/24... The purpose of the unexpected fatality review is to develop recommendations for Department Of Corrections (DOC) and the legislature regarding changes in practices or policies to prevent fatalities and strengthen safety and health protections for incarcerated individuals in DOC’s custody. ... Consultative remarks that do not correlate to the cause of death but should be considered for review by the Department of Corrections: DOC should continue implementing the end-of-life care program. Editor's Note: