Literature Review

April 21-27, 2024 National Volunteer Week: NHPCO's outreach suggestions & recognition ideasNHPCO website, for April 21-27, 2024The U.S. hospice movement was founded by dedicated volunteers and volunteer commitment continues to be a core part of the Medicare Hospice Benefit today. This National Volunteer Week, April 21 – 27, 2024, we’re shining a light on the dedicated, compassionate volunteers who brighten the lives of the patients and families we collectively serve.Editor's Note: Download and use NHPCO's pdf for numerous In-Person Recognition Ideas and Virtual Recognition Ideas.

[Utilization] Hospice care for those with dementia falls far short of meeting people’s needs at the end of life The Conversation, Maria J Silveira, University of Michigan; 4/1/24... Strikingly, only 12% of Americans with dementia ever enroll in hospice. Among those who do, one-third are near death. This is in stark contrast to the cancer population: Patients over 60 with cancer enroll in hospice 70% of the time. In my experience caring for dementia patients, the underuse of hospice by dementia patients has more to do with how hospice is structured and paid for in the U.S. than it does patient preference or differences between cancer and dementia.

Mortality, hospice use rates differ in assisted living communities depending on whether memory care is offeredMcKnights Senior Living, by Kimberly Bonvissuto; 4/4/24Assisted living communities that provide memory care services may attract residents closer to the end of life or promote hospice use at the end of life compared with assisted living communities without such services, according to the findings of a new study. ... Researchers from the Brown University School of Public Health, the University of Melbourne and the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing examined whether end-of-life outcomes — mortality and hospice use — differed between assisted living facilities with and without memory care services among 15,152 residents who moved into larger communities between 2016 and 2018.Editor's Note: Click here for the source article, "Do end-of-life outcomes differ by assisted living memory-care designation?"

April 21-27, 2024 National Volunteer Week: NHPCO's outreach suggestions & recognition ideasNHPCO website, for April 21-27, 2024The U.S. hospice movement was founded by dedicated volunteers and volunteer commitment continues to be a core part of the Medicare Hospice Benefit today. This National Volunteer Week, April 21 – 27, 2024, we’re shining a light on the dedicated, compassionate volunteers who brighten the lives of the patients and families we collectively serve.Editor's Note: Download and use NHPCO's pdf for numerous In-Person Recognition Ideas and Virtual Recognition Ideas.

HHS Secretary Becerra: We’re with you on telehealth flexibilities Hospice News, by Jim Parker; 3/21/24 Telehealth flexibilities must become permanent U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra indicated in a congressional hearing [Wed]. At the end of this year, telehealth flexibilities implemented during the pandemic are slated to expire. In a hearing before the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Becerra said that HHS was willing to make them permanent. However, he said this would require closer collaboration with state governments. “We’re with you. We can’t allow those flexibilities to expire, and we need to work closer with our state partners, because much of the flexibility that comes from telehealth means being able to go over state lines,” Becerra said.

Top 10 patient safety threats of 2024: Helping new clinicians, maternal care barriers, AI, and more Chief Healthcare Executive, by Ron Southwick; 3/21/24 When ECRI unveiled its list of the leading threats to patient safety for 2024, some items are likely to be expected, such as physician burnout, delays in care due to drug shortages or falls in the hospital. However, ECRI, a nonprofit group focused on patient safety, placed one item atop all others: the challenges in helping new clinicians move from training to caring for patients. ... ECRI’s top 10 threats to patient safety for 2024: 

36 rural hospitals have closed since 2020 Becker's Hospital CFO Report, by Alan Condon; 3/21/24 The closures highlight the heightened financial challenges that rural hospitals face amid persisting workforce shortages, rising costs and leveling reimbursement. In addition, only 45% of rural hospitals now offer labor and delivery services, and in 10 states, less than 33% do, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. [Listed in the article] are the 36 rural hospitals that closed since 2020, beginning with the most recent.

Student-run Arizona non-profit uses origami to connect with hospital [and hospice] patients The State Press, by Pippa Fung; 3/19/24The Wishing Crane Project, founded by Arizona student Charles Zhang, serves hospice and hospital patients through art. In the story of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, a young girl tried to fold 1,000 paper cranes in the hopes that it would help her push through a terminal illness. Years later, students across Arizona and at ASU are folding their own cranes [and writing hopeful messages] to support others through their difficult journeys.  Editor's Note: To Hospice Volunteer Directors/Managers, do you receive requests from high school students/groups requesting community service hours? Click here for The Wishing Crane Project.

Home-focused PACE model continues to gain traction across US Home Health Care News, by Joyce Famakinwa; 3/19/24 A Georgia House Bill that would create a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) was passed by the state senate earlier this month. House Bill 1078 passed in a 49 to 1 senate vote.Specifically, the bill creates a new adult day center licensure exclusion in order to authorize the Department of Community Health to establish and implement PACE in Georgia as part of the state’s medical assistance program. The Department of Community Health would manage the program. 

Hearing with Health and Human Services Secretary BecerraHouse Ways and Means CommitteePublisher's note: CA Representatives Steel (@ 4:01) and Van Duyne (@ 4:14) ask pointed questions of Secretary Becerra regarding hospice fraud, particularly focused on Southern California. Thanks to Sheila Clark, California Hospice & Palliative Care Association, for sharing this link. Also, yesterday (3/20/24) Judi Lund Person, Lund Person & Associates Hospice Consulting, presented on this specific topic at the Nebraska Hospice & Palliative Care Association Annual Conference.

Hospice & Palliative Care Handbook: Quality, Compliance, and Reimbursement, 4th Edition McGraw Hill - Access APN; textbook by Tina M. Marrelli and Jennifer Kennedy; 3/28/24 “Hospice & Palliative Care Handbook, Fourth Edition, is an invaluable resource for timely hospice regulatory and compliance information, documentation, care planning, and case management. It provides clear guidance for hospice managers, clinicians, and interdisciplinary group members. I have utilized Tina Marrelli’s home health and hospice handbooks to support training new clinical staff and students for decades and consider these resources to be the gold standard.” – Kimberly Skehan, MSN, RN, HCS-D, COS-C, Vice President of Accreditation - Community Health Accreditation Partner

Here’s what a doctor says actually happens when you die United Business Journal, by Nidhi Dhote; 3/26/24Death is the great equalizer; it’s a subject that intrigues and terrifies us in equal measure. Throughout human history, we’ve pondered what lies beyond the threshold of life, seeking answers in religion, philosophy, and science. Yet, despite all our advancements, the mystery of death remains largely intact. ... In this article, we’ll delve into what happens to our bodies when we die, as explained by medical professionals.

The Hospice Special Focus Program: What it is & why it is importantFORV/S, by Angela Huff; 3/25/24 The CMS Hospice Special Focus Program (SFP) aims to shed light on poorly performing hospices. CMS has publicly stated it is looking closely at the hospice industry due to increasing concerns regarding fraud, waste, and abuse. The Hospice Special Focus Program (SFP) is a new CMS program that identifies poor-performing hospices, takes action to inform the public, and engages those hospices to either improve their performance or terminate the hospice from the Medicare program.