Literature Review

Message from HHS about an ongoing active cybersecurity threat to your IT resourcesEmail from CMS; 3/1/24 Note: This joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) is part of an ongoing #StopRansomware effort to publish advisories for network defenders that detail various ransomware variants and ransomware threat actors. These #StopRansomware advisories include recently and historically observed tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and indicators of compromise (IOCs) to help organizations protect against ransomware. Visit stopransomware.gov to see all #StopRansomware advisories and to learn more about other ransomware threats and no-cost resources.The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are releasing this joint CSA to disseminate known IOCs and TTPs associated with the ALPHV Blackcat ransomware as a service (RaaS) identified through FBI investigations as recently as February 2024.

‘Playbook’ offers strategies for home health, hospice firms to jump into value-based care McKnights Home Care, by Adam Healy; 2/28/24 Don’t drag your feet. As entities like Medicare Advantage and Accountable Care Organizations continue to grow and thrive, the time is now for home care to step into value-based care, according to home care consultants at Transcend Strategy Group. “The next two or three years are going to be very critical,” Tony Kudner, chief strategy officer at healthcare consultancy firm Transcend Strategy Group, said in an interview Tuesday with McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse. “Now is the time to build out the larger organizational competencies that value-based care is going to require.”

Rhode Island: Physician-assisted suicide bill reintroduced in state legislature The Brown Daily Herald, by Maya Kelly; 3/1/24House Bill 7100 would legalize prescription of lethal medications to patients wiht less than six months to live. ... [Read this article for more history.] ... Joan Teno, an adjunct professor of health services, policy and practice, noted that medical professionals are “strictly protected” by the bill: if a healthcare provider does not wish to prescribe a lethal medication, they are under no obligation to do so. Physicians are also immune from accusations of unprofessional conduct as long as the patient meets all requirements. 

Minnesota's ethical dilemma: Assisted suicide debate intensifies amid disability concerns BNN, by Waqas Arain; 2/28/24  Discover the complex narratives and ethical dilemmas surrounding Minnesota's proposed End-of-Life Option Act, as advocates and opponents clash over the autonomy of terminally ill patiens and the potential risks to vulnerable groups.

Perceptions of interprofessional practitioners regarding pediatric palliative transports Am J Crit Care; by Harriett Swasey, Diana Morrill, Sandra Mott, Shannon Engstrand, and Jean Anne Connor; 3/1/24 Background: Pediatric palliative transport (PPT) is the practice of offering critically and terminally ill children requiring life-sustaining measures the opportunity to be discharged from the hospital to home or a hospice facility for end-of-life care. Although studies have shown PPT to favorably affect both children and their families, limited research exists on the perspectives of health care practitioners. 

Frontpoint Health acquires High Plains Senior Care, expanding Texas footprint and Medicare Advantage partnerships BNN, by Salman Akhtar; 2/29/24 Frontpoint Health, a leader in Home Health and Hospice services, has officially acquired High Plains Senior Care Group (HPSC), marking a significant expansion into over 176 counties across Texas. This strategic move not only broadens Frontpoint's geographical reach but also strengthens its collaborations with Medicare Advantage plans in the Southeast, promising accelerated growth and enhanced care for Medicare Advantage patients.

Joyce Slocum, Texas Public Radio president and CEO, in hospice careTexas Public Radio, by TPR Staff; 3/1/24Joyce Slocum, TPR's president and CEO, was hospitalized this week due to complications from colon cancer. In a statement on Thursday, TPR and Slocum's family added that she has transitioned to hospice care. "TPR must share the difficult news that President & CEO, Joyce Slocum, was hospitalized this weekend due to complications from a recurrence of her colon cancer, and has now transitioned to hospice care," the statement read. "Her family and the TPR staff are grateful for the outpouring of support and love for Joyce."

Death and redemption in an American prisonKFF Health News / NPR, by Markian Hawryluk; 2/19/24Publisher's note: This is a "must read" article about Steven Garner, including circumstances regarding how he was sentenced to life without parole at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, his 26-year service in their hospice program, his release two years ago, and his hospice work since.Notable mentions: Warden Burl Cain; Jamey Boudreaux, Louisiana ~ Mississippi Hospice & Palliative Care Organization; Cordt Kassner, Hospice Analytics; Kim Huffington, Sangre de Cristo Community Care.

HCA unveils executive performance incentive pay for 2024 Becker's Hospital Review, by Laura Dyrda; 2/27/24 Nashville, TN-based HCA Healthcare revealed its plans for the 2024 Executive Officer Performance Excellence Program in a Feb. 26 Form 8-K filed with the SEC. Top executives for the 182-hospital health system will be eligible to earn performance awards based on achieving specific targets, weighted as:

A year after Jimmy Carter entered hospice care, advocates hope his endurance drives awareness ABC News, by Bill Barrow, Associated Press; 2/18/24Since Jimmy Carter entered hospice care at his home in south Georgia one year ago, the former U.S. president has celebrated his 99th birthday, enjoyed tributes to his legacy and lost his wife of 77 years. Rosalynn Carter, who died in November, about six months after the Carter family disclosed her dementia diagnosis, lived only a few days under hospice supervision, with her frail husband at her bedside. Experts on end-of-life care say the Carters’ different paths show the range of an oft-misunderstood service. Those advocates commend the Carter family for demonstrating the realities of aging, dementia and death. They express hope that the attention spurs more Americans to seek out services intended to help patients and families in the latter stages of life.Editor's Note: How are you addressing this length of 1+ year with the patients you serve? Click here for the CMS pdf of the 6-month rule, "Face-to-Face Requirement Affecting Hospice Recertification." 

NJ's 'medical aid-in-dying' law upheld by state Supreme Court Public News Service, by Roz Brown; 2/13/24After a five-year court battle, New Jersey's medical aid-in-dying law has been affirmed by the state's Supreme Court, which rejected an attempt to overturn the statute. Signed by the governor in 2019, the law was soon challenged by a physician based on religious, personal and constitutional grounds. It allows mentally capable, terminally ill adults with six months or less to live to get a prescription they can use to end their lives.

Palliative care doctor: What dying feels like Mind Matters, by Denyse O'Leary; 2/15/24What does dying actually feel like? Most human beings have always believed that the essence of a human being survives the death of the body though the outcome is envisioned in a variety of ways. But, assuming that pain and distress are controlled, what does dying actually feel like? Can science tell us anything about that?