Literature Review

Nurse pleads guilty to 22 counts of patient murder, attempted murder Becker's Hospital Review; by Mariah Taylor; 5/2/24 Heather Pressdee, a Pennsylvania nurse, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and 19 counts of attempted homicide, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported May 1. Ms. Pressdee pleaded guilty on May 2 in an ongoing hearing that is expected to go until May 3. She was given three consecutive life sentences and 380 to 760 years consecutively. Ms. Pressdee, 41, was first charged in May 2023 in connection with the mistreatment of three nursing home patients while working at Quality Life Services in Chicora, Pa., including two counts of homicide and one count of attempted murder. In November, she was charged in connection with the mistreatment of 19 additional patients that were in her care at five different facilities since 2020. 

43 health systems ranked by long-term debt Becker's Hospital CFO Report; by Alan Condon; 4/29/24 Long-term debt has long been a staple in healthcare, but many hospitals and health systems are responding to the increasing cost of debt and debt service in the rising rates environment. Highly levered health systems are looking to sell hospitals, facilities or business lines to reduce their debt leverage and secure long-term sustainability, which creates significant growth opportunities for systems with balance sheets on a more solid financial footing. Forty-three health systems ranked by their long-term debt: ... [Click on the title's link for the list.]

FTC makes changes to healthcare breach reporting Becker's Health IT; by Naomi Diza; 4/26/24... The changes clarify the rule's scope regarding health apps and similar technologies while expanding the information covered entities must provide to consumers in the event of a breach of their health data, according to an April 26 FTC news release. Under the new rule, vendors of personal health records and related entities not governed by HIPAA are mandated to notify individuals, the FTC and, when applicable, the media, in case of a breach of unsecured personally identifiable health data. [Click on the title's link for more revisions to the rule.]

CIOs' top 15 priorities over next 3 years Becker's Health IT; by Giles Bruce; 5/1/24 CIOs' top priority over the next one to three years will be driving business innovation, according to a recent CIO survey. That differs from their current No. 1 focus, which is cybersecurity, per an April CIO story. Here are the activities CIOs plan to spend more time on in the next one to three years, according to the 2024 survey of 1,126 IT leaders: ... [click on the title's link for the list]. 

Is pot legal now? Despite big marijuana news, it's still in legal limbo. USA Today; by Joel Shannon and Jeanine Santucci; 5/1/24 Tuesday brought big marijuana news: The Biden Administration is expected to soon reclassify marijuana for the first time in decades, putting it in a less restrictive drug category that would allow it to be studied and prescribed more easily. But that news comes in a nation where many states have already crafted their own marijuana policy: Some states allow for it to be prescribed already; others allow people to use it recreationally. Few states ban it outright. ... Here's what to know.

Ensign Group buys 7 nursing homes in 6 states Modern Healthcare; by Diane Eastabrook; 5/1/24 Senior living services company Ensign Group acquired seven skilled nursing facilities in six states, as well as a long-term acute care hospital. The deals closed Wednesday [5/1], the same day Ensign Group will report first quarter 2024 earnings. The acquisitions include: [click on the title's link for the list] ...

NHPCO's 2024 Pediatric Palliative and Hospice Care Needs Assessment NHPCO; via email; 5/1/24 The 2024 Pediatric Palliative and Hospice Care Needs Assessment is a product of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s (NHPCO) Pediatric Advisory Council. The goal of the needs assessment is to gain a better understanding of the organizations and providers caring for pediatric patients with serious illnesses throughout the United States. The needs assessment helps create resources and support advocacy. The survey should only be completed once by each organization so please coordinate with your team to complete the survey. For help gathering information, we have created a PDF version of the survey but you will need to input the information into this survey for the information to be used.

TRU Community Care and St. Paul’s Senior Services explore strategic partnership to transform senior care landscape My Prime Time News, Lafayette, CO; 4/29/24TRU Community Care and St. Paul’s Senior Services are exploring affiliation as two well-established nonprofit healthcare providers in Colorado and California, respectively. Under the leadership of Scott Gresser, President and CEO of TRU Community Care and Michael McHale, President and CEO of St. Paul’s Senior Services, organizational integration would allow TRU and St. Paul’s to expand the serious illness continuum of care that each currently provides, including senior services from independent living to memory care, PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly), palliative and hospice care, and community support programs such as bereavement services. 

UK survey finds 65% of adults are worried about access to palliative care Medical Xpress; by King's College London; 4/30/24 A survey commissioned by King's College London, and carried out by YouGov, has found that 65% of people across the U.K. are worried about access to palliative and end of life care, and 41% think there is too little NHS resource allocated to palliative care. The survey of 2,164 adults across the U.K. was commissioned by the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care at King's to explore people's knowledge and experiences of palliative and end of life care. ... Findings from the survey conducted in January 2024 show that nearly a quarter of people (24%) across the U.K. say they don't know much about or have not heard of palliative care, with disparities in knowledge between white and ethnic minority groups.

Hospice of the Chesapeake selects Netsmart myUnity® to propel organizational growth and advance value-based care initiatives StreetInsider.com; Business Wire; 4/30/24 Netsmart and Hospice of the Chesapeake, a premier provider of hospice and palliative care services in Maryland, announce an advanced collaboration through the successful implementation of the myUnity® electronic health record (EHR) system. This move underscores Hospice of the Chesapeake's commitment to enhancing patient care, supporting organizational growth and embracing value-based care models. "Selecting myUnity fulfilled a strategic necessity for us," said Hospice of the Chesapeake CEO Rebecca Miller. "We needed a platform that could not only support our current infrastructure but also grow with us as we expand our services. ..."

To stay open, rural nursing homes in the Midwest prioritize nurses NPR KCUR 89.3; by Aaron Bonderson; 5/1/24... Not enough nurses. Nursing home closures are creeping across Nebraska and other parts of the Midwest. Since 2020, 13 Nebraska nursing homes have shuttered, according to the American Health Care Association (AHCA). During that time, 25 Kansas nursing homes, 27 in Missouri, and 36 in Iowa closed their doors. According to the Center for Medicare Advocacy (CMA), 22 nursing homes in Iowa closed in 2022 alone because of poor quality of care and low occupancy. ... Staffing shortages and quality of care concerns are the leading reasons long-term care facilities shut down, according to the AHCA and the CMA. The pandemic didn’t help matters, stretching employees and resources to their limits.Editor's Note: Click on the title's link and scroll down for a US map of states with data for rank, nurse staff hours per resident per day (HRPD), total nurses, and total providers.

[FL] Attorney General Moody announces arrest of two Seminole County residents for Medicaid fraud Office of Attorney General Ashley Moody [Florida]; by Kylie Mason; 4/23/24 Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, ... announced the arrest of Debora Behnke and Suman Bhattacharjee ...  [They] ran Pioneer Medical Transportation LLC and submitted fraudulent claims for nonemergency medical transportation for Medicaid recipients, stealing more than $250,000 from the Medicaid program.  "Instead of transporting vulnerable Medicaid recipients, these individuals falsely billed the taxpayer-funded program for services never completed. In some instances, they even convinced patients to move across the state—with no regard for the best interest of the patients—and still charged Medicaid for transporting them from the original, longer distance. ..."