Literature Review

Hospital CEOs: What to expect from CMS next yearBecker's Hospital CFO Report; by Laura Dyrda; 12/13/24Healthcare providers will face more reimbursement challenges next year, S&P Global predicts, especially as demographic shifts increase the number of Medicare beneficiaries in many markets. Factors likely to pressure providers next year include:

[Cure] Top palliative care stories from 2024 Cure; by Alex Biese; 12/28/24 This year, CURE® worked to provide education and insight that underscored the importance of palliative care in cancer treatment. Early integration of palliative care, whether through in-person visits, telehealth or ongoing emotional support, can make a significant difference in a patient's quality of life. Here are some of the top articles on the topic of palliative care from 2024.

Hospice News’ top 10 stories of 2024 Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 12/13/24 Fraud and program integrity concerns dominated the news in 2024, along with large acquisitions, payment rules and regulatory changes. This year saw regulatory evolutions spurred by program integrity concerns, as well as the introduction of landmark legislation, shifts in reimbursement trends and a change in presidential administration with unknown impacts across the care continuum. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ramped up auditing activity in the space while also sunsetting the hospice component of its value-based insurance design (VBID) model demonstration ahead of its initial expiration. Meanwhile, lawmakers unveiled a bill with some of the most significant reforms proposed to date for hospice payment and oversight. Dubbed as the Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act, the bill has ignited conversations across the industry about future sustainability, growth and program integrity. [Click on the title's link to continue reading.]

2024 Review: The best thought leadership of the past year PRovoke Media; by Paul Holmes; 12/27/24 There were some familiar themes, from the impact of artificial intelligence to the changing face of ESG, as well as a focus on geopolitical turmoil and the coming Generation Alpha. ... The content below identifies the most interesting themes of the thought leadership we saw in 2024, and includes 12 surveys conducted by researchers, consulting firms, professional organizations, and agencies.

The Hastings Center’s 2024 highlights The Hastings Center; 12/26/24  It has been a successful 2024 thanks to our community of readers and supporters who trust The Hastings Center to illuminate and thoughtfully explore ethical issues in health, science, and technology. Here are some of the past year’s highlights, with a personal message from President Vardit Ravitsky.

Big senior living stories of 2024McKnights Senior Living; by Lois A. Bowers; 12/23/24Here’s a look at some of the big stories involving senior living providers that captured the attention of McKnight’s Senior Living readers this year.

Tributes to President Jimmy Carter

Children’s Hospital New Orleans dedicates new ‘Bella’s Room’ ComfortCare Suite NewOrleans.com, New Orleans, LA; by Site Staff; 12/26/24 Children’s Hospital New Orleans recently celebrated the opening of “Bella’s Room,” a ComfortCareSM suite designed to serve as a sanctuary for children in need of end-of-life care and their families. ... “With the generous support of the Bella Bowman Foundation, honoring Bella’s lasting legacy, Bella’s Room will transform the way children and families across Louisiana and the Gulf South experience serious illness and end of life care,” said Lindsey Casey, RN, senior vice president and chief nursing officer for Children’s Hospital, said in a release. “This beautiful space will help our team provide family-centered end of life care, while offering a comfortable and serene home-like setting for the entire family to be a part of the care experience.” 

Family faces high costs to let loved one spend last days in her own historic home The Santa Fe New Mexican, Santa Fe, New Mexico; by Carina Julig; 12/28/24 Even as a storm brought freezing temperatures and a foot of snow to Santa Fe on Nov. 7, Margaret Acton knew she couldn't wait a single day more. After six long years, her mother was moving back into the family home. ... It was 87-year-old Eloisa Bustos' dying wish to be able to move out of an assisted living facility and back into her home. She is now in hospice care. ... Bustos spent two years at Brookdale Senior Living, which cost the family $5,500 a month. They transferred her to Pacifica Senior Living, which at $4,500 was one of the most affordable facilities in the city — but, the family discovered, also was beset with problems. The troubled facility announced in the spring it was transitioning to a 55-plus independent living community — now called Sierra Blanca Apartments — giving most of its residents just a short time to find other housing arrangements. ...

As a hospice nurse, Jaffrey's Nancy Folsom helps make the journey easier The Keene Sentinel, Keene, NH; by Elijah de Castro; 12/28/24 Nancy Folsom has been working around death since she was a teenager in her family’s funeral home, where she was an embalmer apprentice. From there, she took a step back, pursuing a career as a home hospice nurse in the Monadnock Region, where she helps those who are dying confront death. “Death is never easy, at any age or any time,” Folsom said. “We want to make it as human as possible. I’ve always been comfortable with death.” ... Folsom, 62, of Jaffrey, “has never had a boring day” on the job. When she’s not out in the community working, she’s in the Peterborough office of Home Healthcare, Hospice and Community Services, a local nonprofit provider of home health services that also has offices in Keene and Charlestown. ... Over the years, Folsom has gained experience in how to best read a situation when she gets a new patient. Building trust between a hospice nurse and a patient, Folsom said, takes time, something many of her patients don’t have. Folsom resolves this dilemma by first making sure she is comfortable herself and cultivating a calm, abiding presence. ...

UnitedHealth Group waives deadlines to complete $3.3B home health acquisition The MInnesota Star Tribune; by Brooks Johnson; 12/27/24 UnitedHealth Group has filed for more time to complete a $3.3 billion deal to buy Amedisys, a home health care and hospice company, after the companies agreed to waive deadlines in the face of antitrust scrutiny. The U.S. Department of Justice and several states last month sued to block the deal, alleging the merger would give the Minnetonka-based health care conglomerate a commanding stake in many areas. “ ... UnitedHealth and Amedisis agreed to waive two deadlines to complete the deal, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission document filed Friday. One would have given 10 days after a court ruling to complete the deal; the other gave the companies until the end of 2025. UnitedHealth will now have to pay $275 million if the company backs out of the deal, a $25 million increase, and that figure could rise to $325 million.

Jimmy Carter, the 39th US president, has died at 100 Associated Press (AP), Atlanta, GA; by Bill Barrow; 12/29/24 Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023, spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. “Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the center said in posting about his death on the social media platform X. It added in a statement that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. ...

Hospice in Branford receives $25k grant from CT Health Foundation Patch, Branford, CT; by Rich Kirby; 12/27/24 The Connecticut Hospice Inc., the Branford-based nonprofit organization which provides hospice and palliative care to patients suffering from irreversible illness, has received a $25,000 grant from the Connecticut Health Foundation. ... Connecticut Hospice will use the grant money to evaluate the efficacy of a bilingual community health worker in underserved communities to support the work of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience program. ... "We know community health workers are extremely valuable when it comes to improving health outcomes, ... said Connecticut Health Foundation President and CEO Tiffany Donelson in a news release. "Expanding community health worker services in public settings can help the state make even more progress toward eliminating health disparities."