Literature Review

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

Hospitalists more likely to recommend hospice than specialists: Study Becker's Hospital Review, by Mariah Taylor; 3/27/24 A New Haven, CT-based Yale School of Medicine study [published in the American Cancer Society Journals] suggests oncology hospitalists have better hospice utilization and reduce hospital stays for cancer patients compared to oncologists. Researchers compared referrals for hospice settings from hospitalist-led services and oncologist-led services. Hospitalist-led services referred 11.8% of patients to inpatient hospice settings, nearly double the referral rate of oncologist-led services (5.8%). The adjusted average length of stay before inpatient hospice care was 6.83 days for hospitalist-led care and 16.29 days for oncologist-led care. 

Caring for patients with non-English language preferences American Association of Critical-Care Nurses; 3/25/24 ... With a growing population of people who speak a language other than English at home, nurses and other healthcare professionals must work toward providing better language-inclusive medical care. ... Nurses and other clinical providers must be well-informed regarding the lifesaving nature of language access in healthcare despite any personal bias against or perceived inconvenience of using interpreter services. [This article includes: ]

The process of dealing with death is experiencing rebirth in a less-religious Pittsburgh Digital Daily; by Med St-Esprit, PublicSource; 3/24/24 Tanisha Bowman, of the North Side, a palliative care social worker for Butler Health System and a “death walker,” walks amongst the old graves in St. Mary’s Cemetery. ... From green burial to glass orbs containing ashes, the norms of funerals and burials are broadening as religious affiliation declines. ... According to a 2021 survey by Pew Research, 3 in 10 American adults are religiously unaffiliated. Data compiled by Pew Research about the Pittsburgh metro region found that 50% of adults in the region describe religion as “very important” and nearly 20% consider themselves not religious. Shifts in faith and worship mean families as well as businesses related to death and dying have had to alter their approaches.

Researchers advocate for more home-based options for end-of-life care McKnights Home Care, by Adam Healy; 3/25/24 As older adults increasingly prefer to receive end-of-life care in their homes, new, community-based options will be critical to help patients achieve a home death, according to a new research review published in Palliative Care and Social Practice. ... The researchers analyzed 28 studies conducted between 2002 and 2023 related to factors that affect patients’ abilities to achieve a home death. One persistent issue, they found, was a lack of available home palliative care services. 

Maryland health officials have applied for new federal ‘AHEAD model.’ Here’s what it means. Maryland Matters, by Danielle J. Brown; 3/20/24State health officials have placed their bid for Maryland to be among the first participants in a federal program that will help fund state initiatives to improve patient outcomes and bridge inequities, while constraining hospital and medical costs. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is rolling out the new States Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development Model, called the AHEAD Model, and states are invited to apply for funding. 

Is cybersecurity spending too low to prevent another Change breach? Modern Healthcare, by Brock E.W. Turner; 3/19/24 On Feb. 21, Change Healthcare, which processes 15 billion transactions a year, suffered a ransomware attack that has caused ripple effects throughout the healthcare system, hampering operations and finances for hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, insurers and patients. Cybersecurity professionals are sounding the alarm on future attacks if healthcare organizations don't start putting more financial resources into protecting their data. 

Medi-Cal Update - Hospice Care Program BulletinMedi-Cal, March Bulletin[Topics include:]

Care coordination, quality data crucial to hospice referral growthHospice News, by Holly Vossel; 3/18/24Care coordination and quality data will be engines for hospice referral growth. Hospices saw census volumes drop during the COVID-19 public health emergency as facilities nationwide restricted access to patients amid mandated state closures. Providers often turned to electronic communications to reach patients in facility- and community-based settings alike. Adaptability has been among the keys to coping with the pandemic’s lingering punches in referral streams, according to Craig Dresang, CEO of California-based YoloCares. As end-of-life care received a spotlight during a global pandemic, the historical viewpoints around hospice care delivery have been undergoing a “fundamental shift,” Dresang said.

Telehealth study investigates reimbursements for rural health care deliveryMedical Xpress, by Vincent Jacobbi, Mayo Clinic; 3/15/24A recent Mayo Clinic study published in the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine investigated how telehealth in palliative care may provide value for rural caregivers, health care teams and their patients. Researchers were particularly interested in determining what billing models were most cost-effective and sustainable for health care teams and caregivers transitioning patients from hospital to home care

Hospices stepping up performance on visits-in-last-days-of-life measure Hospice News, by Jim Parker; 3/14/24 Hospices, in aggregate, are showing improvement on the quality measure for visits in the last days of life. The number of registered nurse and social worker visits during a patient’s final week is one of the seven quality measures that CMS uses to evaluate providers. In Calendar Year 2021, the share of hospice care days with nurse visits in the last seven days of life rose to 63%, up from 62% year over year, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). 

Workplace Violence Prevention Plan Implementation: Answers to Frequently Asked QuestionsLCW, California Public Agency Labor & Employment Bolg; 3/13/24With the enactment of [California] Senate Bill (“SB”) 553, the legislature amended Labor Code section 6401.7 and added Labor Code section 6401.9, requiring employers to adopt and implement a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (“WVPP”) and corresponding training for their employees by July 1, 2024. ... Since the enactment of the bill, employers have had questions regarding the WVPP and the training requirements. Below are some common questions and the responses to them: ... [Click on the article's title to view]

How home care companies can optimize operationsMcKnights Home Care, by Lance A. Slatton; 3/12/24To meet the evolving needs of this growing industry without placing additional stress on employed caregivers, it’s crucial that home care companies optimize their operations. This may involve streamlining their processes, adopting innovative technologies, and prioritizing efficiency to ensure high-quality care and sustainable growth.