Literature Review

Home health, home care companies gear up for acquisitions in 2025 Modern Healthcare; by Diane Eastabrook; 11/18/24 Acquisitions in the home care industry are poised to take off in 2025, fueled by lower interest rates and President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration. Large home care providers including Addus HomeCare, Aveanna Healthcare and the Pennant Group said during third quarter earnings calls they would aggressively look for deals next year to gain scale and better compete for hospital referrals. 

Hospice of Northwest Ohio will operate ProMedica's palliative care services CBS WTOL 11, Toledo, OH; by Karmann Ludwig; 11/18/24 Hospice of Northwest Ohio will operate ProMedica's palliative care services at the start of next year, according to a press release from Hospice released Monday. The company said ProMedica's patients who remain in palliative care will be transferred to Sincera Supportive Care and Symptom Relief, one of Hospice of Northwest Ohio's services. Sincera will also take over responsibility for ProMedica's palliative care outpatient clinics, Hospice of Northwest Ohio said. 

Bringing stories to life, and death: Why animated movies are more than entertainment for kids The Stony Brook Press; 11/19/24 ... Whether it is the parents of the protagonist dying in the first few minutes in Frozen or the epic finale where the villain succumbs to a fatal fate like in The Hunchback of Notre Dame or The Princess and the Frog, it is somewhat of an oxymoron to call animated movies “childish,” as they often deal with serious topics. These movies are not outliers; there are videos dedicated to Disney’s “body count,” which counts how many characters have died in Disney movies. While these films may be magical or fantastical in plot, the moral truths of death and life covered in them often stir conversations about mortality. “Despite the fact that we would love to have people or animals or our loved ones forever, death is inevitable,” explained Bonnie Nickels, co-writer of the study End-of-Life in Disney and Pixar Films: An opportunity for Engaging in Difficult Conversation. “We can use these films as opportunities to introduce our young viewers and our young children to this idea.” To Nickels, these movies can create a dialogue between parents and children about dying and even model coping methods. “The fact that it’s a common feature in these films, kind of reiterates this idea that it’s common in life.” Editor's note: What movies will your intergenerational family watch through the holidays? This article's referenced study--"End-of-Life in Disney and Pixar Films"--describes, "A content analysis of 57 movies resulted in a total of 71 character deaths. For different generations, what reactions do you remember having experienced yourself, or from others? Bambi's mother. The Lion King's Mufasa. Frozen's parents of the two sisters. Coco's family members. Click here for a related article, "15 Saddest Disney Death, Ranked." 

What you do makes difference and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make. ~ Jane Goodall

Chaos and devastation: How the mountain fire erupted Ventura County Star, Ventura, CA; by Cheri Carlson and Tom Kisken; 11/17/24 ... The mountain fire that ignited 3 miles away was sweeping across Somis in a sprint accelerated by 80 mph Santa Ana winds that rattled the small ranches on their Ridgecrest Lane cul-de-sac. The fire soon leaped to the hills above Camarillo where it fed on more homes. It destroyed some 243 structures and threatened thousands more. In its first hours, the assault triggered roadside rescues, firefighters racing to get ahead of the flames and people scrambling to escape. ... It was lunch time at Bernadette’s, the residential care and hospice home at the bottom of Marissa Lane in Camarillo Heights. Four elderly residents, all in beds, had just started eating chicken nuggets and noodles. Sheriff’s deputies pounded on the door. Though smoke already filled the sky, a darker patch was coming. The home two lots away from the care center would soon burn to the ground. “It was like the apocalypse,” said Bernadette Abiera, the home's administrator. Deputies lifted the residents out of their beds and into wheelchairs. They rolled them down a hill to waiting squad cars. ...  The deputies ran back in to find two caregivers tending to a resident who was still eating his lunch. He wouldn’t stop. “I had to take the food out of his hands and carry him to the wheelchair,” said Deputy Justin Lopez. ... [Click on the title's link to continue reading.] 

For-profit hospices increasing despite poor performance EurekAlert!, Weill Cornell Medicine; Peer-reviewed publication; 11/18/24 Hospices are increasingly owned by private equity firms and publicly traded companies, but recently Weill Cornell Medicine researchers found that they performed substantially worse than hospices owned by not-for-profit agencies. This is concerning as nearly 75% of hospice programs, which care for patients in their last stage of life, are for-profit. The study, published Nov. 18 in JAMA, highlights the need for policy interventions that focus on increasing transparency and accountability in hospice ownership. ... The researchers analyzed Consumer Assessment of Health Care Providers and Systems (CAHPS) data from January 2021 through December 2022. CAHPS, the national standard for assessing the quality of patient care, surveyed the caregivers of those who passed away in hospice by telephone and mail. The researchers compared measures for communication, timely care, treating family members with respect, emotional and religious support, help for symptoms, hospice care training, hospice rating and willingness to recommend. ... Of the 2,676 hospices included in the final analysis, approximately 25% were owned by private equity and publicly traded companies and 40% were other types of privately owned for-profit hospices. Though only 25% of the hospices surveyed were not-for-profit, they provided the highest-rated quality care including focus on managing pain, comfort, dignity and quality of life.

MUSC working to spread awareness about palliative care WCSC 5, Charleston, SC; by Autumn Klein; 11/19/24 The Medical University of South Carolina is prioritizing palliative care education for both MUSC students, faculty and patients. The month of November is recognized as National Hospice and Palliative Care Month. ... Dr. Carrie Cormack is a professor at MUSC and leads the palliative care faculty. She says that treating a patient for the mental and emotional strain that comes with an illness can be just as important as treating the illness itself. ... At MUSC, they are pushing the importance of palliative care education. They are weaving palliative care into the educational curriculum for nursing students while also offering palliative care programs. The palliative care team also works hand in hand with primary care providers. At MUSC, they are even talking with international leaders and traveling internationally to offer palliative care education. Cormack just returned from an international trip offering palliative care education.

Hospice of Santa Cruz County enters regional partnership ahead of coming reimbursement model changes Modesto Bee, Scotts Valley, CA; by PK Hattis; 11/16/24 The health care landscape has changed a lot in the past 42 years, but for hospice care providers, some things have remained remarkably consistent. ... But that reimbursement process is about to be upended in only a few years and it has caused a handful of hospice providers, including a branch in Santa Cruz County, to form a regional partnership in hopes of ensuring the unique health care service endures for decades to come. Hospice of Santa Cruz County, founded in 1978 when the hospice movement was in its infancy, announced it has locked arms with four other nonprofit hospices and health care organizations to form Chapters Health West - a coalition that will allow the organizations to pool resources ahead of an era of reimbursement model upheaval. "We've been here for 47 years; we want to be here for another 47 years," Hospice of Santa Cruz County CEO Cathy Conway told the Sentinel in recent interview from her office in Scotts Valley. "What got us here for the last 47 won't get us to the next 47 because these changes are happening."

Inside the Justice Department’s Amedisys-Optum lawsuit Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 11/18/24 ... DOJ’s chief concern is that the combination of the two companies would dampen competition in the hospice and home health space. Should the transaction proceed, Optum would control 30% or more of the home health or hospice services in eight states, according to the Justice Department’s complaint. The deal would expand Optum’s home health and hospice footprint to five additional states, allowing the company to gain nearly 500 locations in 32 states. “UnitedHealth Group Incorporated and Amedisys, Inc. are two of the largest home health and hospice service providers in the country,” DOJ indicated in the complaint. “Today, competition between UnitedHealth and Amedisys benefits millions of Americans who need home health or hospice services. But the proposed merger between UnitedHealth and Amedisys would forever eliminate that competition.”

Seven of thirty hospices reviewed did not comply or may not have complied with terms and conditions and federal requirements for Provider Relief Fund payments HHS Office of Inspector General; issued on 11/8/24, posted on 11/14/24Why OIG Did This Audit: The Provider Relief Fund (PRF), a $178 billion program, provided funds to eligible providers for health care-related expenses or lost revenue attributable to COVID-19. ... This audit is part of a series reviewing PRF payments to various provider types. Specifically, this audit assessed whether 30 selected hospices expended taxpayer funds in accordance with Federal and program requirements. ... What OIG Found: ... Of the 30 selected hospices, 23 hospices used PRF funds for allowable expenditures and lost revenues attributable to COVID-19; however, 7 hospices did not comply with or may not have complied with Federal requirements. Of these seven hospices, which received $98.1 million in PRF payments, six hospices claimed a total of $8.3 million of unallowable PRF expenditures and inaccurately reported $1.5 million of lost revenues, and one hospice claimed $4 million in expenditures that may not have been allowable. ... What OIG Recommends: We made two recommendations to HRSA, including that it require the selected hospices to return any unallowable expenditures to the Federal Government or ensure that the hospices properly account for these expenditures. ...

Hospice of the Panhandle veteran volunteers reflect on their service to veteran patients The Journal, journal-news.net, Martinsburg, WV; by Hospice of the Panhandle; 11/17/24 In recognition of Veterans Day, we asked our veteran volunteers at Hospice of the Panhandle to talk about why they perform this service for their fellow veterans. Hospice performs Veteran Recognition ceremonies to all veteran patients and families who wish to take part.  ... Leroy James — Being a Veteran who served during the Vietnam era, I can appreciate the importance of the work that Hospice does when recognizing a veteran’s service to our country. Several of the veterans who I have had the honor of recognizing served during the Vietnam War years. They were grateful that we took the time to show our appreciation when the country did not do so upon their return from serving overseas. [Click on the title's link to continue reading volunteers' stories.]

'Art helps me deal with my cancer diagnosis' BBC News, West Midlands, United Kingdom; by Sophie Madden; 11/18/24 After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Wendy Brookfield said she had lots of emotions. But a referral to art therapy through the Severn Hospice, based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, helped her deal with what she was going through. "There is so much going on in your mind that being able to go along to art therapy, I could just get it out and get it down on paper," she said. "It just such a good outlet for me." Her therapy sessions led to her starting a book of sketches which she regularly filled in, sometimes during her treatment sessions. They inspired the hospice to host its own art exhibition, built around Ms Brookfield's work and with other pieces created by patients.