Literature Review

Stay ahead of Medicare fraudsters ... Watch out for Medicare fraudsters The Times of Noblesville, Indiana; Information provided by the U.S. Department of HEalth & Human Services 8/16/24 (Family Features) ... Watch Out for Medicare Hospice Fraud: Beware of scammers offering older Americans in-home perks, like free cooking, cleaning and home health services, while they are unknowingly being signed up for hospice services. The scammers then unlawfully bill Medicare for these services in your name. Remember this advice to avoid hospice scams: [practical tips for the public] ... Report Medicare Fraud ...Editor's Note: This information for the public--provided by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services--provides an important resource for your community outreach, marketing, and admissions employees.

WellSky CEO Bill Miller: Exercise caution, responsibility with AI in hospice Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 8/12/24 Many expect AI to revolutionize health care, speeding access to care, improving diagnosis and prognosis, enhancing efficiency and achieving other benefits. However, providers need to see through the hype and ask the hard questions. This is according to Bill Miller, CEO of the health care tech company WellSky. ... Hospice News sat down with Miller to discuss current perspectives on AI, its potential benefits and possible risks. [Miller:] "... we’re exercising responsibility and caution when we start thinking about AI jumping into the diagnosis game, or somehow replacing the caregiver. We think of it more of how you could enhance the caregiver, keep the human in the loop. If we can help caregivers arrive at better outcomes for their patients by using AI tools and assisting them, then we’ll do that."

What’s changed in hospice in 2024?Managed Healthcare Executive; By Deborah Abrams Kaplan; 8/5/24Hospice use continues to grow as more older people have serious diseases, leading to the need for more palliative care. At the same time, CMS is adapting and trying new models to measure and improve quality and pay for services. The federal government spent $23.7 billion on hospice care in 2022, according to the latest Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) report, with at least 1.7 million Medicare beneficiaries receiving service. This includes nearly half of Medicare beneficiaries who died that year. Here’s what to expect over the next year. [Summarized]

How the Hospice CARE Act could change respite services Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 8/1/24 The Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act, if enacted, would make changes to the ways hospices provide respite care. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) is in the process of drafting the bill that would represent the most significant reforms to date for hospice payment and oversight. The legislation is currently in a discussion draft phase, which has been circulated among the nation’s major industry trade associations and their members for feedback. ... “There’s evidence that people who take advantage of hospice care delivered properly, actually have a higher quality of life. Oftentimes, they live longer,” Blumenauer said at Elevate. “This is an opportunity to do something in this Congress that is concrete, specific, that will save money and improve the quality of care for some of our most vulnerable people.”

New hospice care centre breaks ground Bernews, Bermuda; 7/22/24 The future of hospice care in Bermuda has taken a leap forward with the groundbreaking on the site of the new Woodland Grove Care Centre on Spice Hill Road, Warwick. A spokesperson said, “Community partners and board members of Friends of Hospice were present to mark the symbolic first shovel-strike of the multi-year construction of Bermuda’s first purpose-built hospice and eldercare care facility. The Care Centre will significantly increase and improve on the care options available on island. ... The building will have an aesthetic character heavily inspired by traditional Bermudian residential character, massing, and vernacular. The provision of functional gardens and landscaped outdoor areas, around the building, contribute to the home environment and will offer tranquil and calming spaces.

Top Projects of 2023: Our Lady of Peace Finance & Commerce, Minnesota Business; by Kate Leibsle; 7/19/24 Jamey Flannery and her team at Flannery Construction took seriously their obligation not just to their client, Our Lady of Peace, but to the patients, their families, and staff to make the construction project at the hospice center as smooth and transparent as possible. Limiting disruptions when you are renovating or adding on to an existing, occupied building is always important, but when the facility you are working on is a hospice center, it becomes paramount. ... The project turned the facility’s 21 double-occupancy rooms into private suites. Each room now is big enough for family and friends to gather in a living area, have a TV and offer more privacy, Flannery said.

Heart to Heart Hospice House continues patient service despite power outages, adverse effects from Hurricane Beryl Cision PRWeb; by Heart to Heart Hospice; 7/16/24 Heart to Heart Hospice, which operates five locations in the Houston area, was among the many healthcare providers severely impacted when Hurricane Beryl made landfall along the Texas coast last week. All the Heart to Heart Hospice sites lost electrical power, as well as internet and cellular-based communications service. ... Immediately following the storm, the Heart to Heart and Proveer teams began working together to quickly restore emergency generator power, helping to ensure that patients and residents received care during the power outages and that all basic, needs-based functions continued uninterrupted. "It has been amazing to see the level of collaboration, compassion, and commitment from these teams that has allowed us to continue serving patients and families across the entire Houston area," said Nick Robinson, Heart to Heart Hospice's Regional Vice President of Operations.

[Consumer Reports] The last goodbye: How to plan a funeral Consumer Reports; by Janet Siroto; 7/7/24 A complete guide to giving loved ones the right send-off--from traditional services to new green burials. Six years ago, Kelly Avery and Kristin Harper, sisters from Birmingham, Ala., gathered their families by the sky-blue ocean waters of Destin, Fla., to memorialize their mother, Barbara Harper. ... They shared funny stories and music, and shed some tears as they spread their mother’s ashes from the deck of a large boat.  ... The experience not only gave the family a meaningful way to pay tribute to Barbara but also got the sisters thinking about their own memorials. The key is making some choices well beforehand, which more people appear to be doing. For instance, according to an April 2024 Consumer Reports nationally representative survey (PDF) of 2,042 adults in the U.S., 50 percent said they planned or intended to plan ahead either for their own funeral or for someone else’s. Read on for a rundown of possibilities and costs. ...

DME Service Solutions joins the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) OpenPR - Worldwide Public Relations; Press release from DEM Service Solutions; 7/4/24DME Service Solutions, a provider of B2B outsourcing solutions specializing in healthcare, is pleased to announce its partnership with the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC). This partnership allows DME Service Solutions to engage with a community dedicated to advancing quality care and operational efficiency in the home care and hospice industry. NAHC represents the home care and hospice community, advocating for accessible and affordable care. By partnering with NAHC, DME Service Solutions connects with a network of professionals focused on effective home care solutions. This partnership provides access to the latest information and in-depth analysis of industry trends, which is essential for staying aligned with current industry needs. NAHC also offers educational programs that will help DME Service Solutions enhance staff expertise and continuously improve service quality.

Jimmy Carter’s long stay in hospice dispels myths about end-of-life care Miami Herald; by Brian Dunleavy; 6/24/24 Former President Jimmy Carter's being in hospice for 16 months makes him an "outlier," but it also highlights the multifaceted nature of end-of-life care and dispels myths about that care, experts told UPI. ... [Dr. Joan Teno, a former hospice provider and an expert in geriatric care said,] "President Carter is an outlier in that only a small percentage of hospice patients survive more than 15 months," she told UPI in an email. "The fact that he has lived so long on hospice is testament to his excellent medical care at home and, if I had to guess, his will to live." It also illustrates the core focus of hospice, which is typically geared toward people with an anticipated life expectancy of 6 months or less, for whom curing their underlying illness isn't an option, Teno added. Defying the odds: More than 90% of patients who enter hospice care die within the first six months, and nearly 40% die within the first week, according to the National Institutes of Health.Editor's Note: Too many hospice organizations and news outlets have used former President Jimmy Carter's longer-than-normal hospice stay to discount and ignore core "hospice" care. Rarely--if ever--have any of these news article been transparent to mention the CMS Hospice Face-to-Face Encounter Requirement. This article is more transparent by describing his hospice stay of 16 months as being as "outlier." Still, its headline can be misleading with its phrase "... dispels myths about end-of-life care."

Circle of Life Hospice opens guest house ABC KOLO 8 NewsNow, Reno, Nevada; by Emily Benito; 6/19/24The Circle of Life Hospice Foundation has just opened their first hospice care guest house for those that cannot afford room or board or end of life care. President of The Circle of Life Hospice Foundation Michelle Cagle says that if they had 10 to 15 beds in the house, they could help around 271 patients a year. The guest house currently has three beds for patients but with more land to build on, there are plans to build a second guest house on the property. “Whether they are homeless or just elderly or their wife can’t take care of them or they’re just not able to afford it or they don’t have any family or children, that’s what we do and opened this house to care for those people.” 

How Coastal Hospice improved clinical outcomes with AIHospice News; by Holly Vossel; 3/6/24Coastal Hospice & Palliative Care recently began exploring ways to improve clinical outcomes during the last days of life, an important quality measure in end-of-life care. The organization has found success utilizing an AI program that analyzes patient data using a palliative performance scale (PPS) indicator, according to Monica Escalante, president and CEO at Coastal Hospice. This window into a patient’s conditions has helped hospice teams better assess approaches to care delivery, Escalante said.Publisher's Note: I recently came across this article from a couple months ago and wanted to share it. An interesting article with impressive outcomes, I've also had positive experience with the PPS. Is your hospice using it?