Literature Review

Plains hospital ends home health servicesClark Fork Valley Press (Plains, MT)December 13, 2023Plains, MT—Clark Fork Valley Hospital will close its Medicare certified home health agency at the end of the year. According to a press release from the hospital, hospice services will not be affected and will continue unchanged. Hospital officials cited ongoing labor shortages, financial losses and regulatory burdens of operating Home Health organizations as reasons for the closure. 

Occupancy on way to 10th consecutive quarter of growthMcKnight’s Senior LivingDecember 14, 2023Senior living occupancy is on its way to 10 consecutive quarters of positive growth, according to NIC MAP Vision’s November intra-quarterly snapshot report. The positive growth trend in senior living—independent living and assisted living combined—marks the longest period of uninterrupted gains since the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care and NIC MAP Vision began reporting data in 2005, Omar Zahraoui, principal at NIC, wrote in a blog. 

Nursing Home and CCRC Spending Grew 5.6% to $191.3B in 2022—After Dropping 7.8% in 2021Skilled Nursing NewsDecember 13, 2023Nursing homes and continuing care retirement communities made up $191.3 billion of national health expenditures in 2022, an increase from $181.1 billion in 2021, reaching levels close to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Pre-pandemic, such expenditures sat between $162 billion and $174.1 billion between 2016 and 2019, according to a survey published by Health Affairs. 

Demand for nurses continues to eclipse supply—reportMcKnight’s Senior LivingDecember 14, 2023Almost three years after the start of the pandemic, a shortage of registered nurses continues to eclipse the supply of qualified professionals. “The US shortage of registered nurses has been called a crisis. Burnout, staff turnover, a growing and aging baby-boomer population, and a lack of educators have contributed to high demand and undersupply, a longstanding problem aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to a new report from ADP Research Institute. 

31 positions eliminated as St. Mary’s lays off employees, cuts hours for some amid financial woesPortland (ME) Press HeraldDecember 12, 2023Lewiston, ME—St. Mary’s Healthcare System laid off at least 31 employees effective Monday, according to St. Mary’s news release. ... The decision comes as the hospital system has sustained operating losses over the last five years, according to the press release. 

Medicare Advantage market got more competitive in 2022—AMA.Modern HealthcareDecember 12, 2023The majority of the nation’s health insurance markets remain highly concentrated, but one segment of the industry in particular continues to grow more competitive—Medicare Advantage. The Medicare Advantage market has decreased in concentration since 2017 and continued to do so in 2022, according to the American Medical Association’s annual report Tuesday on health insurers. 

Rumored Help at Home sale ‘par for the course’ of PE ownership, expert saysMcKnight’s Home Care DailyDecember 14, 2023Three years after it was bought by private equity firms Centerbridge Partners and the Vistria Group, Help at Home could be exploring a possible transaction in what experts have called an unsurprising move. On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Vistria Group and Centerbridge Partners were “gauging interest” in a transaction involving Help at Home. 

Washington, D.C., Needs to Address Hospice Care Utilization DisparitiesBy Donna Gayles and Audrey EasawWashington (DC) InformerDecember 13, 2023Our nation’s capital ranks high in many things, from access to outdoor activities and number of museums to its ethnic and cultural diversity and vibrant LGBTQ+ population. But the city lags far behind in one key area: hospice care utilization. While on average, just under half of Medicare decedents are in hospice care at their time of death, in the District of Columbia, only 25% are—ranking lower than 49 of the 50 states. This is especially meaningful when considering how medical mistrust plays into this underutilization among the city’s extremely diverse population. 

"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." Robert Brault

Repositioning Nursing Homes For Acuity, More Closures, Less Deal Making Expected in 2024Skilled Nursing NewsDecember 12, 2023As the skilled nursing industry heads toward a new year with continued labor shortages and reimbursement gaps, service repositioning and closures among operators are expected trends for the space. And although there are signs of positivity in the form of increased Medicaid reimbursement in some states, extensive rural closures are creating “nursing home deserts” and up to 450,000 nursing home residents are still at risk of displacement without a sufficient workforce.  

LeadingAge CEO Calls Out Political Inaction on ‘Dangerously Broken’ Nursing Home Funding SystemSkilled Nursing NewsDecember 12, 2023Decades-long underfunding of nursing homes continues to create unnecessary hardships for aging Americans as access issues deepen. And yet, attempts to change the current financial system have fallen on deaf ears. In an effort to get the attention of lawmakers in Washington, LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan took aim with this view at the long-term care financing system in an editorial for The Hill on Monday, calling reimbursement “dangerously broken.” 

US Supreme Court refuses to hear fraud appeal for South Florida health care executive pardoned by TrumpSouth Florida Sun-SentinelDecember 11, 2023The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up an appeal by a South Florida nursing-home operator whose 20-year prison sentence was commuted by former President Donald Trump after being convicted in what prosecutors called a “massive health care fraud scheme.” The Supreme Court rejected a petition by attorneys for Philip Esformes, who was found guilty in 2019 on 20 counts related to kickbacks, money laundering, obstruction of justice and conspiracy, according to court documents. 

Nurses’ union renews push for safe staffing levels in Maine hospitalsMaine BeaconDecember 12, 2023The Maine State Nurses Association, the state’s largest nursing union, has renewed its legislative campaign in support of a bill to address unsafe staffing levels at Maine hospitals. The Maine Quality Care Act, a bill sponsored by Sen. Stacy Brenner (D-Cumberland) that would establish minimum staffing requirements based on patient needs, will be one of the top labor proposals that lawmakers will consider when a new legislative session begins early next year.