Literature Review
Medicaid Health Plan will reimburse Health Equity Certification
03/26/24 at 03:00 AMMedicaid Health Plan will reimburse Health Equity Certification HealthPayerIntelligence, by Kelsey Waddill; 3/22/24 Meridian Health Plan of Illinois, Inc.—a wholly-owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation that offers Medicaid coverage—announced that it will cover part of the fee hospitals must pay to undergo health equity certification through the Joint Commission. ... The health plan’s goal in offering this aid is to support providers’ efforts to reduce local care disparities.
Incurable but not hopeless: How hope shapes patients’ awareness of their advanced cancer prognosis
03/26/24 at 03:00 AMIncurable but not hopeless: How hope shapes patients’ awareness of their advanced cancer prognosis The Conversation, by Jean Mathews and Michael Brundage; 3/24/24Hope is defined as the expectation of achieving a future good. Patients with cancer, whether it is curable or not, prioritize cure as their highest hope. ... Previous research indicates that less than half of patients with incurable cancer are aware of their prognosis. This is often attributed to a failure of communication. ... In the context of advanced cancer, the relationship between hope and hopelessness is balanced by acceptance, which can re-direct hope to new goals beyond cure, such as hope for connection with others and enjoyment of daily pleasures.
My Mother is in Hospice Care
03/26/24 at 02:30 AMMy Mother is in Hospice Care Reformed Journal, by Doug Browser; 3/25/24 My 96-year-old mother entered hospice care a few months ago. For a while, it seemed as though she would go on forever, even though we knew that was unlikely. ... [Here’s] the thing, maybe the most striking thing I’ve learned while sitting with my mom over these last few months. Loss of memory can sometimes be a gift. ... I realize that there can be a kind of grace in not remembering a few things. ... We don’t have to go back and revisit any of it. We have this time together. ... And together we are a mom and a son, present in the moment, a moment with a surprising amount of grace. I never expected to get there.
‘I’m kinder and more compassionate’: actor Greg Wise on men and grief
03/26/24 at 02:00 AM‘I’m kinder and more compassionate’: actor Greg Wise on men and grief The Guardian, by Tim Jonze; 3/24/24 How the tragic death of his beloved sister, Clare, gave Greg Wise a new outlook on navigating the end of life. ... Wise is best known as an actor. He met [his wife, Emma] Thompson on the set of 1995’s Sense and Sensibility and has notched up more than 30 years in film and TV. But these days he has carved out a niche for himself as someone who wants to change the way we think, and talk, about the end of our lives. “Not having a proper relationship with one’s grief is one of the great ills of the world,” is how he puts it. "[Without] witnessing and accepting our own pain, we can’t have empathy – proper empathy. I don’t think we can see someone else’s suffering until we can see our own.”
Researchers advocate for more home-based options for end-of-life care
03/26/24 at 02:00 AMResearchers 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.
Thank a social worker this month
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMThank a social worker this month The Alpena News; 3/22/24 March is National Social Worker Month, and we encourage anyone who knows a social worker to take the opportunity to thank him or her for all they do. ... There are more than 700,000 social workers across the U.S., more than 30,000 of them in Michigan, working in all kinds of fields, from child advocacy and protection to behavioral health to hospitals and hospice. “Our mission is to help the vulnerable,” Karen Wagner, a social worker with Hospice of Michigan’s Alpena team, told News staff writer Mike Gonzalez for a recent story.
[Mississippi] Doctors plead with Senate to ‘do right’ and expand Medicaid
03/25/24 at 03:00 AM[Mississippi] Doctors plead with Senate to ‘do right’ and expand Medicaid
End-of-life care in heart failure
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMEnd-of-life care in heart failure MedPageToday; by Crystal Phend, reviewed by Andrew Perry, MD; 3/22/24 Palliative care has a perception problem. It's often associated with end of life or advanced cancer. However, cardiovascular disease actually accounts for a higher proportion of adults in need of palliative care than does cancer (38.5% vs 34%), according to the World Health Organization. Patients with heart failure (HF) have a median survival of about 5 years -- on par with many types of cancer, yet patients with cancer are much more likely to be referred to palliative care.
How the healthcare sector is handling cybersecurity training
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMHow the healthcare sector is handling cybersecurity trainingModern Healthcare, by Mari Devereaux; 3/21/24... Healthcare entities should use the Change Healthcare incident as a lesson on how to strengthen their own cybersecurity and an opportunity to have conversations about third-party risk, contingency planning and vendor backups, said John Riggi, national adviser for cybersecurity and risk at the American Hospital Association. ... Both executives and lower-level staff need to be trained on how to spot a potential social engineering attack, best practices around cyber hygiene, and how to enact downtime procedures in the event that third party services are lost for up to 30 days or longer, Riggi said.
Top 10 patient safety threats of 2024: Helping new clinicians, maternal care barriers, AI, and more
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMTop 10 patient safety threats of 2024: Helping new clinicians, maternal care barriers, AI, and more Chief Healthcare Executive, by Ron Southwick; 3/21/24 When ECRI unveiled its list of the leading threats to patient safety for 2024, some items are likely to be expected, such as physician burnout, delays in care due to drug shortages or falls in the hospital. However, ECRI, a nonprofit group focused on patient safety, placed one item atop all others: the challenges in helping new clinicians move from training to caring for patients. ... ECRI’s top 10 threats to patient safety for 2024:
Lessons for skilled nursing and assisted living facilities from the ‘largest health care fraud case’
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMLessons for skilled nursing and assisted living facilities from the ‘largest health care fraud case’ JD Supra, by Callan Stein and Rebecca Younker; 3/22/24 Phillip Esformes, the alleged mastermind of one of "the largest single criminal health care fraud cases ever brought against individuals by the Department of Justice," has finally reached a plea deal with the Department of Justice (DOJ), concluding the eight-year-long case. ...
Record funding raised for Tidewell Hospice, Empath Health
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMRecord funding raised for Tidewell Hospice, Empath Health HomeCare News; 3/21/24 Nearly 600 people attended the Tidewell Foundation’s Crystal Anniversary Signature Luncheon on Friday, March 1, at The Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota. The 15th Annual event, the Tidewell Foundation’s largest fundraiser, raised a record $434,558 to benefit Tidewell Hospice and Empath Health services that reach more than 10,000 people each year in Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties in Florida. Health advocate, movie, TV and Broadway actress, five-time Golden Globe nominee, New York Times best-selling author and memory expert Marilu Henner was the keynote speaker. Henner is a spokesperson for Alzheimer's disease awareness. She has been a vocal advocate for hospice care, and in 2019 she became a spokesperson for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
AI scribe saves doctors an hour at the keyboard every day
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMAI scribe saves doctors an hour at the keyboard every dayAMA, by Andis Robeznieks; 3/18/24 When a health system rolls out new technology that it insists will make physicians’ lives easier, the announcement is typically met with skepticism. But the use of augmented intelligence (AI)—often called artificial intelligence—has changed that. The Permanente Medical Group’s rollout of ambient AI scribes to reduce documentation burdens has been deemed a success, saving most of the physicians using it an average of one hour a day at the keyboard. ... Refinement of the tool, however, is ongoing. ... For example, one physician mentioned scheduling a patient’s prostate exam, but the AI scribe recorded that the exam had been performed.
Report: Alzheimer's and dementia caregivers total 840K in Florida, bear heavy burden
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMReport: Alzheimer's and dementia caregivers total 840K in Florida, bear heavy burden NPR WMFE, by Joe Byrnes; 3/22/24The number of Floridians serving as caregivers for people with Alzheimer's and other dementias is an estimated 840,000, an increase of 13,000 in just one year, according to an annual report from the Alzheimer's Association. Caregiving takes a toll on families hit by the degenerative brain disease, but a new program from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could lessen that burden. ... [This] promising resource in the works is the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience Model, an approach that includes the patient and caregiver. The GUIDE Model -- through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services -- starts in July.
"A strong reason why I enjoy coming to work": Clinician acceptability of a palliative and supportive care intervention (PACT) for older adults with acute myeloid leukemia and their care partners
03/25/24 at 03:00 AM"A strong reason why I enjoy coming to work": Clinician acceptability of a palliative and supportive care intervention (PACT) for older adults with acute myeloid leukemia and their care partners Journal of Geriatric Oncology; by Ayomide Okanlawon Bankole, Natasha Renee Burse, Victoria Crowder, Ya-Ning Chan, Rachel Hirschey, Ahrang Jung, Kelly R Tan, Susan Coppola, Mackenzi Pergolotti, Daniel R Richardson, Ashley Leak Bryant; 3/20/24 Introduction: ... In this study, we examined clinician acceptability of a NIH-funded interdisciplinary PAlliative and Supportive Care inTervention (PACT) for older adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and their care partners that transcends both inpatient and outpatient settings. Results: ... Five themes were identified in the thematic analysis: (1) Emotions and affect towards the intervention, (2) Intervention coherence and self-efficacy, (3) Barriers, burden, and opportunity costs of delivering the intervention, (4) Usefulness and effectiveness of the intervention, and (5) Recommendations to improve intervention delivery.
Massachusetts makes paid family leave more accessible, offering services in Spanish, Portuguese
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMMassachusetts makes paid family leave more accessible, offering services in Spanish, Portuguese New England Public Media, by Elizabeth Roman; 3/22/24... The state passed a law in 2018 which provides paid family and medical leave (PFML) for serious injury or illness whether personal or a family member, as well as time for parental leave, but found that people whose primary language is not English were unaware of, or hesitant, to apply for the services. ... While the state portal for applying for PFML services now has options in various languages, some people are still overwhelmed by filling paperwork out online. ... There are representatives who speak Spanish and Portuguese and the state also works with an interpretation service for many other languages.
NH House passes medical aid in dying: Debate isn't over yet
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMNH House passes medical aid in dying: Debate isn't over yet Portsmouth Herald, by Margie Cullen; 3/22/24 The End of Life Options Act, which would allow terminally ill people in New Hampshire to access medical aid in dying, narrowly passed in the House of Representatives Thursday. While versions of this bill have been brought to the legislature in past years, this is the first time it has passed the House. It comes after it gained its first victory in the House Judiciary Committee, where it was recommended to pass 13-7 for the first time. In the House Thursday, it passed 179-176.
HHS Secretary Becerra: We’re with you on telehealth flexibilities
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMHHS Secretary Becerra: We’re with you on telehealth flexibilities Hospice News, by Jim Parker; 3/21/24 Telehealth flexibilities must become permanent U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra indicated in a congressional hearing [Wed]. At the end of this year, telehealth flexibilities implemented during the pandemic are slated to expire. In a hearing before the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Becerra said that HHS was willing to make them permanent. However, he said this would require closer collaboration with state governments. “We’re with you. We can’t allow those flexibilities to expire, and we need to work closer with our state partners, because much of the flexibility that comes from telehealth means being able to go over state lines,” Becerra said.
Deal or No Deal: The futures of 3 home-based care companies
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMDeal or No Deal: The futures of 3 home-based care companiesHome Health Care News; by Andrew Donlan; 3/21/24 Most buyers in home health and personal care are signaling they'll be more active in the M&A market this year. There are three major home-based care deals that have happened, or may happen, in the near-term future. All of them could have significant ripple effects.
Cancer: It’s not like the movies
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMCancer: It’s not like the moviesUCI Health, by Heather Shannon; 3/21/24Movies have the power to make fictional stories seem so vivid they leave an impression and a feeling that lasts forever. That’s especially true for films about someone diagnosed with cancer who ultimately meets a tragic end. “Patients often come in with an image in their head based on the movies they’ve seen that had a cancer patient in it,” says UCI Health medical oncologist Dr. Arash Rezazadeh Kalebasty. ... Rezazadeh and his co-authors found several problems with how cancer was characterized in the movies, including: Cancer type ...; Curability ...; Palliative care ...
Medical marijuana law does not impair employers’ right to drug-free workplace
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMMedical marijuana law does not impair employers’ right to drug-free workplace Insurance Journal, by Andrew G. Simpson; 3/22/24 A Connecticut employer has the right to terminate an employee who is impaired by medical marijuana in the workplace. The Connecticut Appellate Court on March 19 upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit brought against a nonprofit pre-school by a teaching assistant who used medical marijuana for treatment of her disability and was fired for violating the school’s drug-free workplace policy by showing up for work impaired.
A $400M incentive drives hospitals to meet health equity goals
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMA $400M incentive drives hospitals to meet health equity goalsModern Healthcare, by Kara Hartnett; 3/21/24 Hospitals across Massachusetts are building infrastructure to examine health disparities and address social needs, driven by new incentives within the state's Medicaid program. The program is authorized to pay out $400 million annually to private acute-care hospitals, divided among those that comply with an evolving set of operational and quality standards related to health equity. Eventually, healthcare organizations will receive distributions based on their ability to close gaps in care.
New legislation proposes national expansion of integrated care models
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMNew legislation proposes national expansion of integrated care modelsHealth Affairs, by Laura M. Keohane; 3/20, 24 This article is the latest in the Health Affairs Forefront major series, Medicare and Medicaid Integration. The series features analysis, proposals, and commentary that will inform policies on the state and federal levels to advance integrated care for those dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. ... On March 14, a bipartisan group of senators—members of the Senate Duals Working Group—released legislation (The DUALS Act: Delivering Unified Access to Lifesaving Services Act of 2024) that commits to ambitious goals for aligning Medicare and Medicaid coverage ... Would the integration measures proposed in this bill be more successful [than previous programs] in achieving these goals? This Forefront article highlights the key components of the legislation and assesses its ability to advance better outcomes for dual-eligible beneficiaries.
Today's Encouragement: March Madness ...
03/25/24 at 03:00 AMMarch Madness is like a rollercoaster – even if your bracket is busted, the ride is still thrilling.
36 rural hospitals have closed since 2020
03/25/24 at 03:00 AM36 rural hospitals have closed since 2020 Becker's Hospital CFO Report, by Alan Condon; 3/21/24 The closures highlight the heightened financial challenges that rural hospitals face amid persisting workforce shortages, rising costs and leveling reimbursement. In addition, only 45% of rural hospitals now offer labor and delivery services, and in 10 states, less than 33% do, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. [Listed in the article] are the 36 rural hospitals that closed since 2020, beginning with the most recent.