Literature Review

To stand pat or not: When home health providers should expand service offerings Home Health Care News, by Joyce Famakinwa; 4/12/24 When it comes to expanding their business portfolios, home health leaders can continue to do what they know best, or they can decide to branch out. Leaders at companies like Choice Health at Home and The LTM Group have found themselves in this exact position. As a result, they have created a framework for determining when to diversify their business portfolios versus when to focus on developing their core care services. ...

Goals of care among patients with advanced cancer and their family caregivers in the last years of life JAMA Network; by Semra Ozdemir, PhD; Isha Chaudhry, MSc, Chetna Malhotra, MD; et al; 4/11/24 Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study of patient-caregiver dyads, findings suggested the importance of interventions aimed at reducing discordance in goals of care between patients and caregivers and helping them develop realistic expectations to avoid costly, futile treatments.

Comment: Rule must change to allow dialysis as end-of-life care HeraldNet, by Matthew Rivara and Mackenzie Daniek; 4/13/24More than 1 in 7 American adults live with chronic kidney disease, making it one of the most common chronic disease conditions in the United States. ... Medicare will generally not reimburse health care providers for dialysis treatments if a patient has elected to enter hospice care, as dialysis treatments are considered by Medicare to be “curative” rather than “palliative” care. Because of this, most patients getting dialysis for ESRD must forego all dialysis treatment after entering a hospice program.

$1 billion Medicaid shortfall leads to waiting list for HCBS McKnights Senior Living, by Kimberly Bonivssuto; 4/12/24An almost $1 billion shortfall in Indiana’s Medicaid program is fueling the implementation of a waitlist for the state’s home- and community-based services waiver program.  ... Last week, the [Family and Social Services Administration] FSSA announced that it was implementing a waiting list after the A&D waiver program reached maximum capacity. Overall, strategies the agency outlined to reign in spending are expected to have a $300 million impact over the biennium.

Central Oregon hospice sues feds over challenged Medicare claims The Lund Report, by Nick Budnick; 4/11/24 One of a declining number of nonprofit hospice providers, Partners In Care leaders have successfully defended the vast majority of disputed claims, but have sued to erase the rest while challenging government methods. The case could have 'huge ramifications' and will be closely watched.

New DOJ rules for online healthcare content make sure seniors aren’t taken offline McKnights Senior Living, by Aaron Dorman; 4/11/24The Department of Justice took steps earlier this week to help make sure old adults have appropriate access to valuable web content they need for understanding important healthcare and coverage decisions. State and government agencies, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, must abide by new technical standards, according to a new DOJ rule signed Monday [4/1/24]. “Just as stairs can exclude people who use wheelchairs from accessing government buildings,” the official rule states, “inaccessible web content and mobile apps can exclude people with a range of disabilities from accessing government services.” The technical requirements of the rule are extensive — the updated document is almost 300 pages long — but the overall purpose is to instruct agencies on their obligations to account for possible disabilities.

City-country mortality gap widens amid persistent holes in rural health care access KFF Health News, by Jazmin Orozco Rodriquez; 4/9/24 The health disparities between rural and urban Americans have long been documented, but a recent report from the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service found the chasm has grown in recent decades. In their examination, USDA researchers found rural Americans from the ages of 25 to 54 die from natural causes, like chronic diseases and cancer, at wildly higher rates than the same age group living in urban areas. ... In 1999, the natural-cause mortality rate for people ages 25 to 54 in rural areas was only 6% higher than for city dwellers in the same age bracket. By 2019, the gap widened to 43%.

Rio Grande Hospital addition designed for wellness [Includes lodging for out-of-town hospice family members] Alamosa Citizen; 4/9/24On the west side of Del Norte, across from a large bison herd, sits Rio Grande Hospital and Clinic. Construction of a large addition, a Wellness Village, is approaching completion with a grand opening planned for June. ... When completed, the wellness village will occupy five acres adjoining the existing hospital campus and will include the multipurpose Wellness Center, four to six small housing units, and four RV hookups. The housing and RV hookup features will enable those who don’t live close by or who are visiting the area to spend time with loved ones in treatment or hospice without having to travel up to 90 miles plus-or-minus every day.

Hospice of Redmond expands Camp Sunrise, yearly grief camp, to include teens 13-17KTVZ.com News Channel 21, Redmond, OR; 4/9/24 An estimated 6 million children, or 1 in 12 kids in the United States, will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18. ... Substance abuse and behavioral issues are closely intertwined with grief. Untreated grief may impact high-risk behavior, trouble in school, and substance abuse. Hospice of Redmond’s annual children’s grief camp, Camp Sunrise, which occurs every June, has expanded its offerings to include helping teens ages 13 to 17 this year.

New hospice physician requirements sow claims submission confusionMcKnights Home Care, by Adam Healy; 4/8/24As hospice providers prepare for new physician certification rules going into effect next month, many are still seeking clarification from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on how the new rules will affect claims processes, experts said in a recent webinar. “The new requirement is effective May 1, 2024,” Katie Wehri, director of regulatory affairs for the National Association for Home Care & Hospice, said during the webinar Thursday. “We know that is right around the corner, and we have some concerns about that date, frankly, because of some of the inconsistent instructions that we have seen from CMS.”

Reminder: April 16 is National Healthcare Decisions Day The Conversation Project, Institute for Healthcare Improvement; ongoing until 4/16/24[Read for] specific ideas and suggestions for ways to implement National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) activities in your community and at your facility. First and foremost, lead by example…be sure you have thoughtfully considered and made your own healthcare decisions known. Editor's Note: from The Conversation Project's "About Us": "The Conversation Project began 2010, when Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Ellen Goodman and a group of colleagues and concerned media, clergy, and medical professionals gathered to share stories of 'good deaths' and 'hard deaths' within their own circle of loved ones."

World Hospice & Palliative Care Day: October 12, 2024 The Worldwide Hospice and Palliative Care Alliance; 4/6/2024World Hospice and Palliative Care Day [WHPCD] has been marked every year since 2005. Join us on Saturday 12 October 2024 to advocate for better hospice and palliative care services around the world. The WHPCD theme for 2024 is "Ten Year's since the Resolution: How are we doing?" ... Download a wealth of resources, including last year's toolkit ...

USDA Rural Development accepting applications for grants to fund high-speed Internet and digital equipment for rural and tribal communitiesU.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development, by Leigh Hallet; 4/4/24The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development invites grant applications for two programs that fund broadband access. The Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Grant Program helps organizations provide online training, education, and health services. It funds services, training, and equipment to digitally connect people to education, training, and health care resources.