Literature Review

US officials call on UnitedHealth to accelerate payments to providers The United Business Journal, by Rahul Kumar; 3/11/24In a recent open letter, officials from the U.S. government expressed urgency for UnitedHealth Group to expedite payments to healthcare providers. This plea came in the wake of a debilitating cyberattack on the insurer’s Change Healthcare tech unit, which severely disrupted medical claims processing and payments. The U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services emphasized the critical need for UnitedHealth to take swift action to ensure that healthcare providers do not face financial strain due to the cyberattack.

How changing reproductive health laws could impact perinatal hospice Hospice News, by Holly Vossel; 3/8/24 Evolutions in reproductive health laws may have reverberating impacts on the demand and delivery of perinatal hospice care. Perinatal hospice care is provided to families choosing to continue a pregnancy following a life-limiting prenatal diagnosis indicating a high risk of mortality before or shortly after birth. This care includes emotional, spiritual and medical support to families navigating the complexities of a terminal illness. Perinatal hospice providers work closely with health care professionals in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) and reproductive health settings. 

Ohio’s Hospice cuts unnamed number of staff, CEO confirms Journal-News Butler County; by Samantha Wildow; 3/8/24Ohio’s Hospice has reduced its staff by an unnamed number of employees, the CEO confirmed to the Dayton Daily News. Ohio’s Hospice is a partnership of nonprofit hospices in Ohio committed to “a shared vision of strengthening and preserving community-based hospices,” the organization said.  “Since our beginning, our focus has been and will always be on the patients and families we have the privilege of serving,” said Kent Anderson, CEO of Ohio’s Hospice. The nonprofit has faced “inflationary pressures,” he said, which have impacted labor, energy and other costs.

Mayo's plan to expand AI tool access in 2024 Becker's Health IT, by Naomi Diaz; 3/7/24Rochester, MN-based Mayo Clinic has saved its nurses 30 seconds per In Basket message using generative AI. ... This AI-driven system assists clinicians by generating initial responses to patient messages that have nonurgent medical questions. ... The tool has been able to generate draft responses to 3.9 million patient messages in 11 months saving nurses approximately 30 seconds per message, leading to potential monthly time savings of 1,500 hours across the organization, according to the post. Editor's Note: Even without purchasing expensive AI software, many basic software systems / email systems have similar systems to generate sample response phrases, e.g. Microsoft Outlook and Google's Gmail. Your clinicians are sure to have honed out numerous time-savers. Ask! Compile results, assess best practices and reward their input. 

End-of-life care stakeholders celebrate end of hospice VBID carve-in McKnights Home Care, by Adam Healy; 3/6/24 Various hospice associations on Tuesday cheered the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ recent decision to abandon the Hospice Benefit Component of the Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) model. ... Providers have long held that the uniqueness of hospice care, a multidisciplinary, person-centered care model, would make it a poor fit for MA. 

Board Director Role: A discreet leadership role gets tougherBecker's Hospital Review, by Molly Gamble; 3/5/24A position at the top of organizations, including health systems, is "probably more complex than ever" but with limited visibility. The board director role is increasingly demanding, according to Frithjof Lund, the global leader of McKinsey's Board Services practice. "New topics pile onto the board agenda almost by the day," Mr. Lund said. "We've also seen a massive increase in the expectations of the board to engage on strategy, investments and M&A, performance management, risk, talent, and the organization." 

Why home care leaders are now banking on ‘Caregiver-First’ cultures Home Health Care News, by Patrick Filbin; 3/4/24 Over the last several years, a notable trend is emerging in home care: Top-tier companies are shifting their focus from prioritizing customers to prioritizing caregivers. This strategic move reflects a growing recognition of the critical role caregivers play, and aims to address persistent caregiver shortages.

Physicians grow louder on noncompetes Becker's Hospital Review, by Ashleigh Hollowell; 3/4/24 Amid a nationwide shortage of physicians, contractual noncompete clauses are making it more challenging for patients to receive the care they need, particularly in more rural regions, and physicians are pushing back, NBC News reported March 3. The American Medical Association estimates that between 35% and 45% of physicians in the U.S. are bound by noncompete clauses of some kind.

Providers meet with OMB to prevent ‘devastating’ effect of 80/20 provision McKnights Home Care, by Adam Healy; 3/4/24Home care stakeholders have been busy on Capitol Hill voicing concerns about a controversial provision of the proposed Medicaid Access Rule. The National Association for Home Care & Hospice and Home Care Association of America met with the Office of Management and Budget last week to discuss the Access Rule’s so-called 80/20 provision. The provision, if finalized, would require that 80% of Medicaid payments for personal care, home health and homemaker services be spent on workers’ compensation. “If that one provision is finalized as proposed, it would be so detrimental that we’d likely lose a significant portion of our service delivery base and people would go without care,” Damon Terzaghi, NAHC’s director of Medicaid HCBS (home- and community-based services) said in an interview with McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse. “It would truly be devastating.”

Why health care has become a top target for cybercriminals The Mercury News, by Elise Takahama of The Seattle Times; 3/1/24, updated 3/2/24 Cyberattacks of all sorts have plagued large corporations, small businesses and individuals for decades now, but in the past several years, health care has become a top target, according to federal and local cybersecurity experts. ... [Click on the title to read more about ...]

What is the appropriate response when a colleague is not following an aid-in-dying law? American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying - Ethics Consultation Service; posted by Jean Abbott, MD, MH; originally posted 2/2/24 and emailed 3/4/24 Outline of Ethics Question: A resource practitioner for aid-in-dying care has encountered practitioners who have not followed the requirements of the laws in that state, including eligibility, documentation, and other standard legal or medical elements of aid-in-dying care. The resource practitioner wonders what ethical responsibilities should guide their response to these concerns. Definition of “resource practitioner”: An experienced prescriber who acts as a source of information or a mentor for others prescribing or consulting for patients considering aid in dying. Their role is to advise the provider on aid-in-dying best medical practices and the process required to comply with the law.

How to help elderly parents from a distance: Tech can ease logistical, emotional burden USA Today, by Marc Ramirez; 2/28/24 As a neuropsychologist trained in developing technology for cognitively impaired older adults, Alyssa Weakley’s research at the University of California, Davis, made her acutely aware of the challenges of long-distance caregiving. ... Soon, she and her family found themselves in a position shared by nearly 6 million other Americans, acting as caregivers from a complicated and often distressing distance. According to a 2020 AARP report, long-distance caregivers represent more than 1 in 10 of the country’s estimated 53 million family caregivers, meaning they live an hour or more from their care recipient; on average, they live about 450 miles away. Editor's Note: What systems do you have in place to communicate with and support family members who live long-distance, who never have the opportunity to meet with any hospice team members in person?