Literature Review
Today's Encouragement: from Jimmy Carter
12/31/24 at 03:00 AMI have one life and one chance to make it count for something. ~ Former President Jimmy Carter
Big senior living stories of 2024
12/31/24 at 03:00 AMBig senior living stories of 2024McKnights Senior Living; by Lois A. Bowers; 12/23/24Here’s a look at some of the big stories involving senior living providers that captured the attention of McKnight’s Senior Living readers this year.
The Hastings Center’s 2024 highlights
12/31/24 at 03:00 AMThe Hastings Center’s 2024 highlights The Hastings Center; 12/26/24 It has been a successful 2024 thanks to our community of readers and supporters who trust The Hastings Center to illuminate and thoughtfully explore ethical issues in health, science, and technology. Here are some of the past year’s highlights, with a personal message from President Vardit Ravitsky.
Hospice & Palliative Care Today's most read stories of 2024
12/31/24 at 02:00 AMHospice & Palliative Care Today's most read stories of 2024
Tributes to President Jimmy Carter
12/31/24 at 02:00 AMTributes to President Jimmy Carter
The top long-term care stories of 2024
12/31/24 at 02:00 AMThe top long-term care stories of 2024 McKnights Long-Term Care News; by James M. Berklan; 12/20/24 Workforce issues dominated the long-term care provider landscape in 2024 — but in far more ways than just coping with the finalization of the nation’s first-ever nursing home staffing mandate. As new legal and political winds may eventually push that controversial regulation off providers’ desks anyway, it was clearly apparent this year that McKnight’s Long-Term Care News readers’ interests span a wide array of personnel and workplace issues. Below are the top stories, topics and issues that our readers showed they were most intrigued about when it came to doing their jobs better, and about the sector in which they spend so much daily energy.
Children’s Hospital New Orleans dedicates new ‘Bella’s Room’ ComfortCare Suite
12/30/24 at 03:15 AMChildren’s Hospital New Orleans dedicates new ‘Bella’s Room’ ComfortCare Suite NewOrleans.com, New Orleans, LA; by Site Staff; 12/26/24 Children’s Hospital New Orleans recently celebrated the opening of “Bella’s Room,” a ComfortCareSM suite designed to serve as a sanctuary for children in need of end-of-life care and their families. ... “With the generous support of the Bella Bowman Foundation, honoring Bella’s lasting legacy, Bella’s Room will transform the way children and families across Louisiana and the Gulf South experience serious illness and end of life care,” said Lindsey Casey, RN, senior vice president and chief nursing officer for Children’s Hospital, said in a release. “This beautiful space will help our team provide family-centered end of life care, while offering a comfortable and serene home-like setting for the entire family to be a part of the care experience.”
How private investment is becoming a driving force behind PACE
12/30/24 at 03:00 AMHow private investment is becoming a driving force behind PACE Modern Helathcare; by Diane Eastabrook; 12/23/24 2025 could be the year a 50-year-old program that keeps older adults out of nursing facilities goes mainstream as for-profit companies innovate and launch more programs. Habitat Health, Seen Health, One Senior Care and InnovAge are planning to expand Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly from California to Ohio. These investor-backed organizations are scaling and innovating PACE at a time when more states are offering the Medicare-Medicaid program for frail older adults, and as legislation before Congress could make its services more widely available. Still, these for-profit programs face administrative hurdles and high start-up costs that have hamstrung PACE for decades.
Beyond the bedside: How an online Master's in Healthcare Administration impacts patient care
12/30/24 at 03:00 AMBeyond the bedside: How an online Master's in Healthcare Administration impacts patient care University of the Cumberlands, Florence, KY; 12/26/24 Healthcare is about more than just bedside care. Behind every smooth-running hospital or clinic is a team of administrators ensuring that patients receive high-quality treatment efficiently. Healthcare administrators bridge the gap between clinical operations and organizational management, directly influencing the patient experience. By implementing policies, optimizing resources, and supporting healthcare teams, these professionals make it possible for caregivers to focus on what they do best: treating patients. With this in mind, earning an online master’s degree in healthcare administration can equip professionals with the leadership skills and strategic insight needed to improve patient outcomes on a broader scale. ...
How healthcare AI is meeting the hype at UW Health
12/30/24 at 03:00 AMHow healthcare AI is meeting the hype at UW HealthBecker's Health IT; by Giles Bruce; 12/6/24Ambient clinical documentation will be commonplace in healthcare three years from now, according to Chero Goswami, chief information and digital officer at Madison, Wis.-based UW Health... What is the IT project you're most excited about at your health system? I would say the stuff we're doing with ambient listening, which most others in the industry are doing as well, which is allowing providers and other members of the care team to spend more time in direct patient care, and not typing up notes, with AI capturing everything in the background and then creating a summary note, or a clinical note. It returns the clinicians to clinical practice, rather than making them glorified typists. And it also leads to a better patient experience, because the patient is very much aware that the clinician is looking at them eye to eye and having a conversation, versus looking at a keyboard. And it reduces cognitive burden. The physicians aren't completing the note at 8 o'clock at night, but doing it in real time at the clinic.
Hospice volunteering isn't for everyone but a rewarding way to give back
12/30/24 at 03:00 AMHospice volunteering isn't for everyone but a rewarding way to give back News Talk 830 WCCO; by Susie Jones; 12/27/24 Volunteering is big part of the holiday season for some, with people wanting to help others even in difficult times. Being a hospice volunteer isn't for everyone. It can certainly be scary to sit with someone who is dying. "It's not just a job, it's not just a volunteer gig, and I can always, always welcome new volunteers," says Allina Health hospice program administrator Erika Schuld. However, Schuld says it can be very rewarding. "You're in these really intimate, vulnerable settings, and you just form bonds really quickly, and it really is our honor in hospice to walk along with patients and families," explains Schuld. Doctor Glen Varns is the medical director of the program and he says volunteers do not administer medication. Instead they do other things to support families. Editor's note: The CMS standard 42 CFR §418.78(e) requires hospices to use volunteers for at least 5% of patient care hours. This was waived during the COVID-19 pandemic, and then reinstated May 11, 2023 when the Public Health Emergency (PHE) officially expired. CMS's volunteer requirement is unique to hospice care. Ensure that your hospice provides appropriate selection, background checks, required TB tests, job descriptions for different volunteer roles, matching of the volunteer to the best role, training, supervision, and tracking of hours for CMS's requirement. Additionally, your hospice must adhere to applicable state laws and internal HR Policies and Procedures regarding volunteers. Click here for the CMS standard.
As a hospice nurse, Jaffrey's Nancy Folsom helps make the journey easier
12/30/24 at 03:00 AMAs a hospice nurse, Jaffrey's Nancy Folsom helps make the journey easier The Keene Sentinel, Keene, NH; by Elijah de Castro; 12/28/24 Nancy Folsom has been working around death since she was a teenager in her family’s funeral home, where she was an embalmer apprentice. From there, she took a step back, pursuing a career as a home hospice nurse in the Monadnock Region, where she helps those who are dying confront death. “Death is never easy, at any age or any time,” Folsom said. “We want to make it as human as possible. I’ve always been comfortable with death.” ... Folsom, 62, of Jaffrey, “has never had a boring day” on the job. When she’s not out in the community working, she’s in the Peterborough office of Home Healthcare, Hospice and Community Services, a local nonprofit provider of home health services that also has offices in Keene and Charlestown. ... Over the years, Folsom has gained experience in how to best read a situation when she gets a new patient. Building trust between a hospice nurse and a patient, Folsom said, takes time, something many of her patients don’t have. Folsom resolves this dilemma by first making sure she is comfortable herself and cultivating a calm, abiding presence. ...
Sierra Hills employees strike for safer conditions to live and work
12/30/24 at 03:00 AMSierra Hills employees strike for safer conditions to live and work Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne, WY; by Noah Zahn; 12/26/24 Employees at Sierra Hills Assisted Living protested Thursday outside the facility after Edgewood Healthcare, which owns Sierra Hills, has refused to budge in negotiations for safer working conditions for employees and residents after more than 10 months of negotiation. “We did include many things in our contract proposal that we feel will really benefit the residents,” said Taylor Ewig, who has been a CNA at Sierra Hills for around 10 years. ... There are currently between 70 and 80 residents at the facility and around eight under hospice care. Ewig and other CNAs participating in the strike said that many of the Sierra Hills residents are supportive of the strike. The issues began at the facility when Sierra Hills implemented a hospice care service a few years ago, shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. ... The company hires hospice nurses who are only on the facility about two hours per week, according to Sierra Hills staff. The rest of that time, the burden of care for the resident falls to the staffed CNAs and RNs.
Accountable Health Communities (AHC) Model: Third evaluation report (2018-2023)
12/30/24 at 03:00 AMAccountable Health Communities (AHC) Model: Third evaluation report (2018-2023)CMS press release; 12/27/24The Accountable Health Communities (AHC) Model tested whether connecting beneficiaries to community resources for their health-related social needs (HRSNs) improved health care utilization outcomes and reduced costs. [The five core HRNS's include housing instability, food insecurity, transportation problems, utility difficulties, and interpersonal violence.] Collectively, these findings provide evidence that navigation can transform the delivery of care in ways that address major HRSN barriers to health and promote health equity for underserved populations.
Today's Encouragement: Year's end is ...
12/30/24 at 03:00 AMYear’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. ~ Hal Borland
What does a hospital chaplain do for patients seeking health care in Connecticut?
12/30/24 at 03:00 AMWhat does a hospital chaplain do for patients seeking health care in Connecticut? Shelton Herald; by Jordan Nathaniel Fenster; 12/29/24 Rev. ReBecca Sala described her work as “archaeology of the soul.” Her first masters’ degree, long before she became a hospital chaplain, was in museum administration of archeological collections. She doesn’t see the two roles as very different. “I've been a searcher my whole life,” she said. In the same way that an archaeologist gently brushes away the silt and stone of centuries, Sala said she attempts to gently allow emotions and spirituality to emerge from patients and their families receiving care at Stamford Hospital. ... “That people even allow me to be there with them is humbling.” ... “It's meeting the patient where they are, not where I want them to be, what we as chaplains want them to be. It's finding out what's most important to them in that moment,” she said. .. Sala said if there was a bridge between the physical and the spiritual, it would be palliative care. The goal of palliative medicine is to improve the quality of a patient’s life physically, emotionally and spiritually.
Family faces high costs to let loved one spend last days in her own historic home
12/30/24 at 03:00 AMFamily faces high costs to let loved one spend last days in her own historic home The Santa Fe New Mexican, Santa Fe, New Mexico; by Carina Julig; 12/28/24 Even as a storm brought freezing temperatures and a foot of snow to Santa Fe on Nov. 7, Margaret Acton knew she couldn't wait a single day more. After six long years, her mother was moving back into the family home. ... It was 87-year-old Eloisa Bustos' dying wish to be able to move out of an assisted living facility and back into her home. She is now in hospice care. ... Bustos spent two years at Brookdale Senior Living, which cost the family $5,500 a month. They transferred her to Pacifica Senior Living, which at $4,500 was one of the most affordable facilities in the city — but, the family discovered, also was beset with problems. The troubled facility announced in the spring it was transitioning to a 55-plus independent living community — now called Sierra Blanca Apartments — giving most of its residents just a short time to find other housing arrangements. ...
UnitedHealth Group waives deadlines to complete $3.3B home health acquisition
12/30/24 at 03:00 AMUnitedHealth Group waives deadlines to complete $3.3B home health acquisition The MInnesota Star Tribune; by Brooks Johnson; 12/27/24 UnitedHealth Group has filed for more time to complete a $3.3 billion deal to buy Amedisys, a home health care and hospice company, after the companies agreed to waive deadlines in the face of antitrust scrutiny. The U.S. Department of Justice and several states last month sued to block the deal, alleging the merger would give the Minnetonka-based health care conglomerate a commanding stake in many areas. “ ... UnitedHealth and Amedisis agreed to waive two deadlines to complete the deal, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission document filed Friday. One would have given 10 days after a court ruling to complete the deal; the other gave the companies until the end of 2025. UnitedHealth will now have to pay $275 million if the company backs out of the deal, a $25 million increase, and that figure could rise to $325 million.
Hospice in Branford receives $25k grant from CT Health Foundation
12/30/24 at 03:00 AMHospice in Branford receives $25k grant from CT Health Foundation Patch, Branford, CT; by Rich Kirby; 12/27/24 The Connecticut Hospice Inc., the Branford-based nonprofit organization which provides hospice and palliative care to patients suffering from irreversible illness, has received a $25,000 grant from the Connecticut Health Foundation. ... Connecticut Hospice will use the grant money to evaluate the efficacy of a bilingual community health worker in underserved communities to support the work of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience program. ... "We know community health workers are extremely valuable when it comes to improving health outcomes, ... said Connecticut Health Foundation President and CEO Tiffany Donelson in a news release. "Expanding community health worker services in public settings can help the state make even more progress toward eliminating health disparities."
Jimmy Carter, the 39th US president, has died at 100
12/30/24 at 03:00 AMJimmy Carter, the 39th US president, has died at 100 Associated Press (AP), Atlanta, GA; by Bill Barrow; 12/29/24 Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023, spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. “Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the center said in posting about his death on the social media platform X. It added in a statement that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. ...
Flu season is here. Here’s what you can do about it.
12/30/24 at 02:30 AMFlu season is here. Here’s what you can do about it. USA Today; by Eduardo Cuevas; 12/26/24 Holidays are upon us — and so is the flu. More Americans are getting infected with seasonal influenza and seeking care, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. “It is clearly the season,” Dr. Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner, a medical epidemiologist in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Influenza Division, told USA TODAY. One important step, if people haven’t done so, is to get vaccinated, he said. Full protection takes a couple weeks to kick in, but it has benefits in preventing serious illness. “The flu season still has weeks to go, so they will still get protection from the flu shot if they get it soon,” he said. Last year, the flu led to 470,000 hospitalizations and 28,000 deaths.
Love remains the greatest gift of all
12/30/24 at 02:30 AMLove remains the greatest gift of all The Eagle-Tribune; Commentary by Raymond Hackett, Jr.; 12/28/24 On Christmas Eve in the year 2000, an article I wrote, "Love is the greatest gift of all," was published in the Haverhill Gazette, a sister paper to The Eagle-Tribune. At the time, my grandmother Frances V. (Anderson) Marchand Mears, was a resident of Penacook Place nursing home on Water Street in Haverhill. She was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. As young as 6 years old I knew I loved writing. That year I handed my grandmother a birthday card I made for her on her St. Patrick's Day. ... She has since passed. However, on Oct. 7 of this year, we found ourselves at Penacook Place again, this time to bring our father, Raymond Hackett. It was a difficult day for my family. We knew he was at that stage of Alzheimer's disease when he really needed 24-hour care. ... A hospice nurse showed up and checked my father's vital signs. ... My father died about a month later on Dec. 15, but we forever have that day, when we left the nursing home saddened and facing the inevitable. We also left with the knowledge that blessings come in many – sometimes unexpected – ways, and that love will always and forever be the greatest gift of all.
Statement on the passing of former President Jimmy Carter
12/30/24 at 02:00 AMStatement on the passing of former President Jimmy Carter National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI), Washington, DC; by Matt Wilkinson; 12/29/24 With profound sadness, Tom Koutsoumpas, CEO of the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI), the leading advocate for not-for-profit advanced illness, hospice, and palliative care providers, today released the following statement on the passing of former President Jimmy Carter: “With heavy hearts, NPHI joins the nation in mourning the passing of former President Jimmy Carter — an incredible statesman and humanitarian. His long and impactful life, spanning almost a century, is reflective of a steadfast dedication to service. As a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, he will be remembered for his persistent efforts in seeking peaceful solutions to conflicts, advancing democracy and human rights, and promoting economic and social development. When President Carter chose to receive hospice care in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, he and his family made the decision that countless others do — to receive care in the comfort and solace of their homes, surrounded by the love and support of family. President Carter’s nearly two-year journey in hospice care highlights its profound value, challenging the misconception that hospice is solely for the final days of life. His experience illustrates how hospice can provide comfort, dignity, and compassion for those navigating life’s final chapter. Our heartfelt condolences are extended to the entire Carter family and to those who drew inspiration from his life’s extraordinary work.”
Providence’s joint venture with Compassus likely delayed amid concerns about patient care and rural access
12/29/24 at 03:55 AMProvidence’s joint venture with Compassus likely delayed amid concerns about patient care and rural access Home Health Care News; by Audri Martin; 12/19/24Oregon’s Health Care Market Oversight (HCMO) program is reviewing a proposal to spin off Providence’s home health and hospice services into a joint venture supported by private equity. ... OHA’s HCMO program evaluates health care business transactions to ensure they do not negatively impact citizens or communities. The program also empowers state regulators to impose conditions on acquisitions and mergers or reject deals they find anti-competitive. Critics of the deal argue that the joint venture will result in cost-cutting measures, increased staff workloads and reduced patient services. Providence is the fifth largest nonprofit health care provider in the United States, while Compassus is a private equity-backed provider of home-based care services operating in more than 30 states.
EverHeart Hospice expands and offers growth in the community
12/29/24 at 03:50 AMEverHeart Hospice expands and offers growth in the community Mercer County Outlook, Mercer County, OH; 12/19/24 EverHeart Hospice is thrilled to announce the opening of its newly expanded Inpatient Care Center. This significant milestone marks a new chapter in their commitment to providing compassionate care to patients and families experiencing life-limiting illnesses. The grand opening event, held in their new space on the 3rd floor of Wayne HealthCare, was a resounding success, bringing together community members, healthcare professionals, and local dignitaries. Attendees had the opportunity to tour the new space, which featured enhanced patient rooms, advanced medical equipment, and comfortable family areas designed to create a serene and supportive environment.