Literature Review

How to support loved ones experiencing cognitive decline while securing their financial well-being Nasdaq, Peronsal Finance; by Deanna Ritchie; 12/6/24 Supporting a loved one with cognitive decline can be one of life’s most challenging challenges. Those with cognitive impairments, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s, often need to be emotionally resilient and make practical adjustments. However, proactive financial planning to secure their well-being is frequently overlooked. The reason? The Wall Street Journal reported that those with undiagnosed memory loss are prone to significant financial declines. Researchers at the University of Michigan found that people without knowledge of their memory problems lost an average of $31,000 in net worth, while people with knowledge lost $5,400. Keeping this in mind, here’s a guide for providing compassionate care while protecting their savings and financial stability. [Click on the title's link for more.]

Change of ownership and quality of home health agency careJAMA Health Forum; Zhanji Zhang, MSc; Kun Li, PhD; Siyi Wang, BS; Shekinah Fashaw-Walters, PhD, MSPH; Yucheng Hou, PhD, MPP; 11/24The home health industry has been rapidly growing due to population aging. National spending for home health agency (HHA) services increased from 93.8 billion in 2016 to 132.9 billion in 2022, with a 6.0% growth in the years after the COVID-19 pandemic, growing faster than facility-based nursing care. In this ... analysis of Medicare-certified HHAs, ownership change was associated with higher star ratings and Medicare per capita payments, but not with claims-based quality measures. Medicare per capita payments in the first 2 years after ownership change were higher, and staffing levels were lower. Reduction in staffing levels after ownership change raises concerns about implications for quality of care.

Court Orders VitalCaring to place 43% of profits into trust for Encompass Health Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 12/3/24 A federal judge in Delaware has ordered home health and hospice provider VitalCaring Group and its private equity backers to share future profits with Encompass Health (NYSE: EHC). The case has a long circuitous history that dates back to 2022 when Encompass Health spinned off its home health and hospice business as a standalone company, now known as Enhabit Inc. (NYSE: EHAB) brand. At the time, VitalCaring CEO April Anthony was CEO of the Encompass home-based case segment. “Encompass is entitled to one recovery,” a court opinion indicated. “That recovery takes the form of an equitable payment stream of VitalCaring’s future profits to be administered via a constructive trust, certain mitigation damages, and attorneys’ fee.” The court ordered that 43% of VitalCaring’s future profits be placed in trust to benefit Encompass. The remaining 57% would go to VitalCaring’s private equity backers, the Vistria Group and Nautic Partners.

Michael Dowling: We've revolutionized care for aging adults, but is America's health system ready for the senior population boom? Becker's Hospital Review; by Michael J. Dowling, President and CEO, Northwell Health; 12/2/24 Like many baby boomers and those from earlier generations, I have vivid memories from my younger years of my grandparents and other aging adults struggling with an assortment of ailments that their doctors told them were just an inevitable part of growing old. ... The transformative advancements made over the past half-century in meeting the physical and emotional health needs of the nation's rapidly aging population are remarkable — and that's especially important because more Americans are turning age 65 now than in any other time in our history (4.1 million in 2024, or 11,200 a day). And as we move toward a new year, every healthcare executive must examine whether we are collectively prepared to care for them in the years and decades ahead and take steps to recruit the medical specialists we need to meet burgeoning demand. ... Lastly, all clinicians must embrace palliative care as part of their standard practice in managing the health of aging adults with serious illness. ... 

Senior living organizations press senators for passage of Elizabeth Dole Act McKnights Senior Living; by Kathleen Steele Gaivin; 12/2/24 Senior living advocacy groups are pressing Senate Veterans Affairs Committee leaders to seek a unanimous consent agreement on the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, to expedite its passage. ... The advocates noted that the House of Representatives had passed the act Nov. 18 under suspension of the rules. The House overwhelmingly supported the bill, passing the legislation by a vote of 389–9. ... As McKnight’s Senior Living previously has reported, the pilot program would enable 60 veterans to receive assisted living services via a three-year test that also would measure their satisfaction with the effort. The legislation would require that participating facilities be located in geographically diverse regions, with at least one test site serving veterans in a rural or highly rural area and at least one being a state home.

Big Bend Hospice’s promise to North Florida [New parent company, Seven Oaks Health] Tallahassee Democrat; by Bill Wertman, "Your Turn"; 11/29/24 As CEO of Big Bend Hospice, I see every day how vital our mission focused hospice care is to families across North Florida. Yet, in today’s healthcare landscape, nonprofit hospices like ours are increasingly rare. Only about 30% of hospices nationwide operate as nonprofits (CDC, 2020), and for-profit hospices have made up nearly all new providers in recent years (Hospice News, 2022). These changes mean that the type of personalized, community-centered care that Big Bend Hospice provides is at risk of disappearing. In 2024 alone, 12 hospice acquisitions took place, with about half involving nonprofit organizations (Hospice News, 2024). This trend is forcing many nonprofits to either consolidate or scale back services. For Big Bend Hospice, the choice was clear: expand our offerings to meet more in-home healthcare needs, while keeping compassion and family-centered care at the forefront. To accomplish this, we established Seven Oaks Health, our new parent company. With Seven Oaks Health, we’re creating a sustainable model that enables us to support families from diagnosis through end-of-life, especially in the rural areas we’ve served for over 40 years. By broadening our services, we’re ensuring that more families have access to high-quality care wherever they call home.

Aged care nursing in the digital future Atlassian Jira, Australia; by Flinders University; 11/27/24 The results call for nurses to be included when digital innovations are in development, so they can actively shape their implementation and ensure high-quality, compassionate care for residents in their final stages of life. "In Australia and around the world, we have seen a significant increase in digital technologies in the health care sector," says study lead author Dr. Priyanka Vandersman, a Senior Research Fellow at Flinders University's Research Center for Palliative Care, Death and Dying (RePaDD).  "In aged care, these digital approaches can include helping with care planning and assisting with managing medication, but we need to ensure that nurses are equipped with the digital skills needed to use these tools effectively, while continuing to provide high quality, person-centered care."

National Alliance for Care at Home lays out 2024, 2025 priorities HomeCare, Washington, DC; 11/21/24 As 2024 starts to wind down and a new administration and Congress begins to take over in Washington, home health advocates are focused on two primary priorities: reversing planned reimbursement cuts for home health and reforming plans that target underperforming hospices. As Americans gather for Thanksgiving, “these are major family issues and also major national public policy issues of the highest level of strategic importance for our country,” said Dr. Steve Landers, CEO of the National Alliance for Care at Home, the organization formed by the recent merger of the National Association for Homecare and Hopsice and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. “We’re not done with 2024 yet,” Landers said Thursday, Nov. 21. “We’ve got a lot that we want to accomplish right now, this year—and we’re looking to the future.” The number one priority, he said, is for Congress to intervene and stop home health payment cuts as outlined in a final rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). He said that the cuts would impact patient outcomes, reduce visits and hurt providers—and that they were implemented based on a Congressional mandate saying CMS should support home health.

Addus taking a cautious approach to hospice deals Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 11/22/24 Valuations in the hospice space have led Addus Homecare (Nasdaq: ADUS) to take a more conservative approach to hospice transactions as it actively seeks home health and personal care deals. Hospice multiples reach record highs in 2020 and 2021, as much as 26x. Since then the price tags have reportedly come down, but they haven’t gone far enough, according to Addus President and COO Brad Bickham. The company also seeks to bulk up its home health business relative to the scale of its hospice operations. “First and foremost is the pricing aspect of it. But secondly, it’s probably sequencing to a certain extent,” Bickham said during the Stephens Annual Investment Conference. “Our hospice platform is certainly significantly larger than our home health platform. We have found that home health does a good job of feeding hospice in the markets where we do have that overlap. It’d be good to essentially catch up our home and health platform at the hospice side, and certainly it’s a cheaper valuation.”

The Alliance applauds Gerald’s Law passing through Congress National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance; formerly NAHC and NHPCO); Press Release; 11/19/24 The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) celebrates the historic passage of H.R. 8371, the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act in the U.S. House of Representatives last night with a bipartisan vote of 389-9. This landmark legislation includes Section 301, Gerald’s Law, which addresses a critical gap in benefits impacting seriously-ill veterans and their families receiving hospice care. The story of Gerald “Jerry” Elliott, a U.S. Army veteran, underscores the importance of this legislative achievement. Diagnosed with cancer, Jerry was admitted to his local Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in 2019 before transitioning to VA hospice care at home to be surrounded by his family. After his passing, his family discovered they were ineligible for full burial and funeral financial support because Jerry died outside of a VA facility.

Owatonna MN Hospice Care Program by Freedom Home Care updated and relaunched Freedom Home Care, Owatonna, MN; 11/15/24 Freedom Home Care announced the relaunch of its enhanced Hospice Care Supplement Program, designed to provide support for families and their loved ones receiving hospice care. The program addresses critical gaps by offering additional assistance with daily household tasks, personal care, family respite, overnight caregiving and 24 hour care.  ... The Hospice Care Supplement program is designed to complement the essential medical and emotional care provided by hospice teams, creating a holistic approach that prioritizes both the patient’s and the family’s well-being.

Grant helps launch paramedicine program for patients in need Westfair Business Journal, Sleepy Hollow, NY; by Westfair Online; 11/15/24 Northwell Phelps Hospital received a $125,000 grant from the Phelps Community Foundation to help launch the Westchester Community Paramedicine Program. ... They will utilize remote physiological monitoring to track blood pressure, oxygen saturation and cardiac rhythms, providing convenient and cost-effective care compared to emergency room visits. “This program is designed to address the gap in access to primary and nonemergency medical care for vulnerable populations,” said Barry Geller, M.D., chair of the emergency department and associate medical director at Phelps Hospital. ...  The initiative will first focus on patients served by Phelps’ palliative care, geriatric and emergency medicine programs with plans to expand service to cancer patients. It is expected to reach approximately 200 individuals during the first year, ...

Beacon Hill resident contributes to success of VNA Care’s annual Gala Patch, Beacon Hill, MA; by Deborah Corkum; 11/14/24 Sold-out Heroes in Health Care raised essential funds for home health and hospice care. VNA Care, the first organized visiting nurse association in the United States, raised $220,000 for patient care services during the sold-out annual Heroes in Health Care Gala at the Mandarin Oriental, Boston. Heroes in Health Care is VNA Care’s signature fundraising event and has raised nearly $4.5 million in essential funding for home health and hospice care in Massachusetts.