Literature Review

Springside Knitting Club helps Friends of Hospice Oswego County News Now, Oswego, NY; 12/18/24 The Springside at Seneca Hill Knitting Club recently donated a bin of handmade Afghans to Friends of Hospice in Oswego County (FOHOC), said Elena Twiss, FOHOC executive director. “The Afghans they made will give warmth and comfort to individuals at the end of life in Oswego County and we are very grateful for their support.” FOHOC is a volunteer organization that provides financial and non-medical support to individuals, caregivers, friends and families during the end-of-life journey and supports them following their loss.

What Gen Z wants from employers Becker's Hospital Review; by Kristin Kuchno; 12/16/24 Each new generation entering the workforce brings unique challenges for management, and Generation Z is no exception. Leaders may find themselves puzzled by what Gen Z workers want from their employers and what drives their retention. This generation includes individuals born between 1997 and 2012, making the oldest members 27 years old. [Here] are 16 common priorities of Gen Z workers, as reported by Becker's in 2024: 1. Company culture ... 2. Team dynamics ... 3. Career paths ... 4. Mental health resources ... 5. Student loan repayment options ... 6. Full-time commitment ... 7. Wise feedback ... 8. Work-life balance ... 9. Purpose-driven roles ... 10. Flexible work ... 11. Growth opportunities ... 12. Feedback and validation ... 13. Retention by role ... 14. AI skepticisim ... 15. Timely pay ... 16. Authenticity ...

VITAS Healthcare unveils inpatient hospice unit at Lee Memorial Hospital South Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report, fort Myers, FL; by cfelixcpa; 12/16/24 Residents of Lee County now have access to dedicated end-of-life care at the new VITAS Healthcare Inpatient Hospice Unit at Lee Memorial Hospital, offering expert, patient-centered hospice services in the comfort of a homelike setting. This inpatient unit (IPU) is the only hospital-based hospice facility in the county and is the first VITAS IPU in Lee County and second in Southwest Florida. It is expected to serve more than 400 patients annually. ... The VITAS hospice unit at Lee Memorial features eight private patient rooms with internet access, flatscreen TVs, private bathrooms and overnight accommodations for loved ones. A shared family room provides space for visiting guests, and children’s activities keep little ones occupied.

Hospice utilization rebounds to pre-pandemic levels, but fraud casts a shadow Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 12/17/24 The nation’s hospice utilization rate among Medicare decedents has once again surpassed 50%, for the first time since the pandemic. However, fraud issues in the space create questions around the quality of care patients are receiving. Hospice utilization reached 51.7% in 2023, up more than two percentage points from the prior year, according to recent data from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). This is the highest rate since 2019. MedPAC observed increases in utilization across the board, even when stratified into subgroups by age, sex, race and rural or urban location. ... Despite these positive trends, an influx of new hospices continued in states considered hotbeds for Medicare fraud, including Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas. Many of these new additions came in areas where additional hospices were likely not necessary based on the needs of the patient population. Georgia also saw a large spate of new providers emerge in 2023.

Which skills will survive the AI onslaught? National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), Arlington, VA; by Vivek Sharma and David C. Edelman; 12/17/24 ... Boards and CEOs are inundated with reports projecting doomsday scenarios of job displacement due to AI. For example, according to the World Economic Forum's The Future of Jobs Report 2020, automation and AI are expected to displace 85 million jobs globally by 2025, especially in industries such as manufacturing, data entry, and customer service due to the repetitive nature and predictable processes of these fields. AI is already disrupting many roles hitherto considered firmly within the human domain. ... Irreplaceable Human Dimensions ... In analyzing a wide range of articles on the topic, when a job scores high along any of the following three dimensions, it creates significant hurdles for displacement by AI:

Teleios announces Teleios University graduates Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN), Hendersonville, NC; by Tina Gentry; 12/16/24 Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN) announced its 2024 Teleios University (TU) graduates. Nine individuals successfully completed the year-long program, earning their certificates in leadership excellence. TU’s Leadership Excellence program is unlike any other. This one-year course is provided through monthly webinars, experiential monthly activities, quarterly challenges and more. It culminates with a capstone project and earns each participant who completes the assignments a certification in leadership excellence. This year’s graduates include the following leaders in the Hospice and Serious Illness Sector:

MedPAC advises cutting home health payments by 7 percent, freezing hospice payments in ’26 McKnights Home Care; by Liza Berger; 12/16/24 The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) on Friday issued draft recommendations that entail cutting payments to home health agencies by 7% and freezing hospice payments in 2026. The body, which advises Congress on Medicare payment issues, issued the same recommendations last year. Providers, once again, were not pleased. “The recent recommendations by MedPAC regarding Medicare home health and hospice policy are misguided and deeply troubling,” Steve Landers, MD, CEO of the National Alliance for Care at Home, said in a statement to McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse. “Medicare hospice spending has not kept up with labor inflation in the past five years and the typical length of stay and proportion of beneficiaries accessing hospice has stagnated. With respect to home health, the recommendation for drastic cuts is based on a flawed analysis of agency margins that fails to account for all payers and the true financial health of the home health system.”

Embracing life when nearing death The Aspen Times - Snowmass Sun; Aspen, CO; by Allison Daily; 12/13/24 Receiving a terminal diagnosis is one of life’s most profoundly difficult moments — a collision of disbelief, fear, and uncertainty. With some diseases, there’s a glimmer of hope for a miracle; with others, the focus shifts to navigating the process ahead. When Rita Hunter first asked to meet with me, I had no idea she had been diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. As we settled into my office, she got straight to the point: “I want you to help me with this last part of my life.” I left our first session rattled, but we established a clear understanding over time. She needed someone with whom she could be brutally honest — someone to discuss, without judgment, what she was willing and unwilling to endure. ... In her final days, her body let her know when it was time, and she showed extraordinary grace. She was a gift to this community, and she was a gift to me. She taught me more than I could ever give to her. Rita had become a model of how to live fully, even in the face of an unchangeable reality. Editor's note: Click on the title's link to read this inspirational story, and to learn this clinician's "treehouse" imagery intervention.

Vitas Healthcare unveils inpatient hospice unit at Franciscan Health Olympia Fields GlobeNewswire, Chicago, IL; Press release; 12/12/24 Residents of Olympia Fields and Chicagoland’s surrounding southern suburban communities can now access quality end-of-life care at the VITAS Healthcare Inpatient Hospice Unit at Franciscan Health Olympia Fields. Located on the second floor of the hospital at 20201 South Crawford Ave., this new facility is expected to serve more than 500 seriously ill patients each year. “We are grateful to have this hospice unit as part of our hospital campus, where we can provide compassionate care to patients and families during one of life’s most sacred and challenging times,” said Raymond Grady, president and chief executive officer of Franciscan Health Olympia Fields. “This unit meets a critical need in our community, offering comfort, dignity and spiritual support to those at the end of life.”

Early successes, untapped potential, lingering questions: AI Adoption in Healthcare Report 2024 Medscape; by Jon McKenna; 12/6/24 ... For this report, Medscape partnered with Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), a global professional society that includes an interest group focused on AI-related issues. ... Data came from a jointly managed survey to practicing physicians and other clinicians, practicing nurses, IT professionals, clinical leadership, and executive leadership at medical organizations. All respondents were in the U.S. 

Coaching and caring for others with Meredith Damore Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux; 12/11/24 In this episode of the Anatomy of Leadership podcast, Meredith Damore, Elevate’s SVP of Organizational Effectiveness and Managing Director, Consulting for Elevate Talent, and Chris discuss various topics related to leadership and organizational effectiveness. Meredith has spent a large portion of her career taking coaching and leadership into the private equity world to help start ups be more successful.  A great quote from their time together was a definition of culture that Meredith uses from Carolyn Taylor, “Culture is the patterns of behavior that are encouraged, discouraged, tolerated and not tolerated, most often starting with a leadership team and exhibited broadly by people and systems within an organization over time.” Editor's note: Telios Collaborative Network (TCN) is a sponsor of our newsletter.

Edward D. Viner, celebrated chief physician and medical pioneer, has died at 89 The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA; by Gary Miles; 12/10/24 Edward D. Viner, 89, of Haverford, retired and celebrated acting chief of medicine at Pennsylvania Hospital, chief of medicine emeritus at Cooper University Hospital, hospice and inpatient care pioneer, expert in hematology and oncology, longtime physician to the Philadelphia Orchestra and Philadelphia Flyers, mentor, and veteran, died Sunday, Dec. 1, of acute myeloid leukemia at his home. ... He established the nascent hospice program at Pennsylvania Hospital in 1975 after facing his own catastrophic medical situation in 1972 and became its chief advocate and fundraiser. ...  In 2015, Dr. Viner established and directed the Center for Humanism at the Cooper Medical School of Rowan to “foster the development of humanistic and professional health care practitioners.” In July 2024, center officials renamed it the Edward D. Viner Center for Humanism. [Click on the title's link to continue reading Dr. Viner's significant contributions to end-of-life care.]