Literature Review

State association launches support program for home, hospice, personal care workers The Journal Gazette, Fort Wayne, IN; by Lisa Green; 10/15/24 A statewide association for home and hospice care professionals is launching a support program today with features including training and one-on-one counseling to help with workforce retention. The CARE (Creating Action and Resources for Employees) Connect program is billed as the first of its kind in the U.S., a news release said. A recent report released by MissionCare Collective indicates that caregivers are three times more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression, and 21% of caregivers nationwide self-report poor mental health. And 55% of those workers receive some form of federal or state assistance, the Indiana Association for Home and Hospice Care said in a news release announcing the new support program.

Pa. nonprofit to close; more than 100 people to be laid off Penn Live Patriot News; by Daniel Urie; 10/14/24More than 100 people will be laid off at a Philadelphia nonprofit. The Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Philadelphia has filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry informing the state it will close, and that 114 people will be laid off at 4601 Market St. The nonprofit is expected to close on Oct. 28 but is subject to change based on client needs and operational issues. The Visiting Nurses Association of Greater Philadelphia is closing after 138 years, according to WHYY. The VNA’s home health care program had about 239 patients as of last month, and another 54 patients were being cared for in hospice and palliative care, the WHYY report said. The following employees will be laid off: [Click on the title's link for the list of roles and number of employees.]

NCCI unveils new, more precise Workers’ Comp Medical Price Index Insurance Journal; by William Rabb; 10/7/24 In recent years, workers’ compensation insurers have struggled to accurately gauge the precise trends in medical costs, and have had to rely on indexes that weren’t quite on-point: The U.S. Consumer Price Index is geared toward what patients pay and does not include Medicare’s reimbursement rates, which so many states now tie their workers’ comp fee schedules to. ... Comes now the National Council on Compensation Insurance with a new measuring stick, the Workers’ Compensation Weighted Medical Price Index. It was unveiled recently and has received favorable feedback from carriers, Stephen Cooper, NCCI’s executive director and senior economist, said in a webinar. “By taking the PHC and its construction, we’ve gone and re-created a similar index using similar methodology,” Cooper said. ... 

EEOC sues AccentCare Home Health Care company for pay discrimination and retaliation U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Press Release; 9/27/24 AccentCare, a nationwide home health care service company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, violated federal civil rights laws by paying female employees less than a male colleague because of their sex and retaliating against a female employee who repeatedly complained, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, female Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) working out of AccentCare’s Pottsville, Pennsylvania, location were paid less than their male colleague for performing equal work, despite their superior qualifications. After a female LPN repeatedly complained about the gender-based pay disparity and requested a raise, AccentCare retaliated against her, and ultimately fired her. Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibits pay discrimination based on sex and retaliation for opposing sex discrimination.

Most annoying office behaviors HR Daily Advisor; by Lin Grensing-Pophal; 9/25/24 ... Identifying Behaviors That Annoy: A great first step in combating annoyed employees is to understand what behaviors and actions set those employees off in the first place. A recent survey by Kickresume reveals the most annoying colleague behaviors. The findings showed that 85% of people have dealt with an annoying coworker, with 58% saying these behaviors significantly affect their productivity. Here is the list of the top 15 [with % of employees who find these behaviors annoying]: Credit stealer, 33%. Micromanager, 32%. Chronic complainer, 30%. Personal space intruder, 30%. Lunch thief, 27%. Non-stop chatter, 27%. Loud talker, 26%. Know-it-all, 24%. Procrastinator, 21%. Underperformer, 21%. Email spammer, 20%. Sick but shows up to work, 17%. Ignore-my-headphones talker, 17%. Corporate over-optimist, 16%. Tech illiterate, 15%. Late arriver, 15%.

The growing, troublesome issues around non-solicitation agreements in home care Home Health Care News; by Audrie Martin; 9/23/24 In August, Comfort Keepers was fined $500,000 and forced to remove language from its contracts restricting caregivers from accepting positions with home care clients up to one year after terminating employment. That contract language, dubbed a non-solicitation agreement, is a widely used clause in home care contracts to protect providers’ businesses. On its end, the Irvine, California-based Comfort Keepers is a large franchise that offers non-medical in-home support, including meal preparation, companionship and personal assistance. The company required each client to execute a care agreement containing this language before receiving services. California Attorney General Rob Bonta concluded that this agreement violated California law by restraining worker mobility, as caregivers could not be hired by any Comfort Keepers client, not just the client to whom they were assigned to provide services. ... 

UnitedHealth Group's Optum to lay off 160 employees Modern Healthcare; by Hayley Desilva; 9/19/24 UnitedHealth Group's Optum filed plans to lay off 160 employees at one of its locations in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. The majority of the cuts will occur on Dec. 11, with a single worker laid off Jan. 22, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice filed with the state of New Jersey this month. ... The provider, pharmacy and technology services business said in the filing the planned layoffs are due to a need for "alignment of capabilities and services to meet the evolving needs of our business and those we serve." The employees will be eligible for severance pay and continue to receive their regular wages until their termination date.

Top 5 regrets people have on their deathbeds: What they can teach us about living healthy, fulfilled lives, from an internal medicine doctor NBC-6 South Florida; by Alex Koller, CNBC; 9/23/24 To live a meaningful, fulfilling life, you have to accept that it'll eventually come to an end, says Shoshana Ungerleider. Over the years of caring for ill hospital patients, Ungerleider — a doctor who specializes in internal medicine — has observed regrets among people near the end of their lives, she tells CNBC Make It. Here are five regrets she says people often express:

HHS awards $100M to address workforce shortages Becker's Hospital Review; by Kristin Kuchno; 9/18/24 The Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of HHS, announced it will award $100 million to organizations including medical schools and state health departments to address healthcare workforce shortages, according to a Sept. 17 news release from HHS. With a shortage of 100,000 healthcare workers expected nationwide by 2028, some health systems have focused on nurse faculty shortages, such as New Bedford, Mass.-based Southcoast Health. ... 

Hiring manager fired for refusing to post 'ghost jobs' is now sharing how to recognize them Upworthy; by Jacalyn Wetzel; 9/18/24 There doesn't seem to be a shortage in job openings but there does seem to be an abundance of people looking for work for months without finding gainful employment. According to Ceros Whaley, a former hiring manager at an unnamed company, the problem is that unsuspecting hopeful employees are unknowingly applying for "ghost jobs." Whaley shares that part of his job as a hiring manager was to create "ghost jobs," which are simply fake job listings. He explains that these job listings were not created to find more qualified people to fill positions but to "encourage" current employees to improve their performance. Whaley says that he got into a little bit of a kerfuffle with his higher manager over the company continuing the ghost job ruse. By the time the man reached his tolerance level for posting fake jobs, he had already posted over 300 ghost jobs on sites like Indeed, Monster and other hiring sites. But Whaley shares that he found his morals and just couldn't continue the practice. ... [The] frustrated former employee … did a follow up video sharing how to spot ghost jobs and how to avoid them while you're job hunting. [Click on the title’s link to view.] 

How healthcare leaders view Gen Z in the workforce Becker's Hospital Review; by Kristin Kuchno; 9/18/24As more members of Generation Z move into the workforce, some have clashed with management or disagree with how their employees view them. The group, born between 1997 and 2012, has been described as both tech-savvy and overly reliant on technology. Some human resources professionals have said they lack work ethic and time management skills. The early-career employees themselves have said they find enjoyment in full-time work and value career growth and planning. Here are three healthcare leaders' perceptions of Gen Z in the workforce.

Bayada, HomeWell leaders share strategies for recognizing and retaining office staff Home Health Care News; by Audrie Martin; 9/13/24 Office staff have the highest client satisfaction scores among home health care provider employees. They also have the lowest administrative salaries. These salaries can impact job satisfaction and cause employees to seek employment elsewhere, according to the 2024 Activated Insights Benchmarking Report. Some organizations are turning to recognition to combat this trend. “Employee recognition is no longer a ‘nice to do,’” Michelle Cone, senior vice president of training and brand programs at HomeWell Care Services, told Home Health Care News. “Recognizing employees should be considered table stakes in this post-pandemic landscape. With a focus on employee retention, engagement, and overall satisfaction and its direct correlation to top-quality care, recognition to support retention and drive satisfaction is vital.” ... [Jeff Knapp, Chief People Officer of Bayada told HHCN,] “For office staff, excellence awards are one favorite. Employees are nominated and selected yearly and celebrated at our annual gathering. Categories include clinical leadership, client services leadership and enterprise support. We also give years of service awards to recognize employee loyalty and commitment.”