Literature Review

Other Business Headlines of Interest, updated 5/30/24 per nasdaq.com

AI, health care and the strange future of medicine American Medical Association (AMA); transcript of AMA podcast "Moving Medicine," hosted by Todd Unger;  5/28/24AMA President Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, leads a discussion with three other physicians on the use of AI in health care. Panelists are Claire Novorol, MD, PhD, the founder and chief medical officer of Ada Health, a digital health company using AI to help diagnose and treat patients; Mark Sendak, MD, MPP, a population health data science lead at Duke Institute for Health Innovation; and Alex Stinard, MD, an emergency room physician and regional medical director of Envision Health Care in Florida.

Record numbers of nursing homes are shutting down in New EnglandBoston.com; by Beth Treffeisen; 5/30/24[Personal story about multiple moves, due to shutdowns:] ... Her dad had to spend his entire life savings on care, about $400,000. “And now he’s being treated like this,” Jones said. “He gets moved around, shuffled around like an object.” The nursing home closures affect not only the patients, like Jones’s father, but also the larger health care system and local communities they serve. Experts in the field say the loss of long-term care facility beds has led to backups in emergency rooms, and family members are leaving the workforce to care for the elderly or sick. ... According to a Boston Federal Reserve report, there were 150 less nursing facilities in New England at the end of fiscal year 2023 than there were at the beginning of 2010, a 15 percent decrease.

Golfers swing for a cause raising $15,000 for local nonprofit Avow Cares; press release by Renee Stoll; 5/28/24 Hadinger Flooring hosted its 17th Annual Classic Golf Tournament on May 9, 2024, at Tiburon Golf Club, raising $15,000 for local nonprofit Avow. ... The event hosted 150 golfers from various regions around the United States. ... Avow is a nonprofit provider of hospice, palliative care and grief support services. 

NAHC, NHPCO to merge, Dombi to retire McKnights Home Care; by Adam Healy; 5/23/24 The National Association for Home Care & Hospice and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization are on track to begin merging by July. In a related development, NAHC’s president William Dombi disclosed that he intends to retire by the end of 2024. “Both boards have authorized an affiliation agreement; it’s fully drafted,” Ken Albert, chair of NAHC’s board of directors, told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse in an interview. “We’re looking to transition July 1 of this year. The transition board has been selected. I’ll serve as chair of that transition board; [NHPCO board chair] Melinda Gruber will serve as vice chair. Board members have been identified, and then that next six months from July to December will kind of be the operational integration. We’re in the process of recruiting a new CEO right now, and then all the tech-side, the backend, office-end, that’s going on right now.” Albert added that neither Bill Dombi or Ben Marcantonio, NHPCO’s chief executive officer, would be eligible to lead the new organization.

7 health systems hit by cybersecurity incidents in May Becker's Health IT; by Naomi Diaz; 5/24/24 Several hospitals and health systems have reported cybersecurity incidents that have led to compromised patient data and IT systems during May. Here are seven cybersecurity incidents as reported by Becker's during May. [Click on the title's link for details.]

Healthcare rethinks cybersecurity staffing as threats rise Modern Healthcare; by Gabriel Perna; 5/28/24... Health systems and insurers are dealing with the aftermath of the industry’s latest large-scale ransomware attacks, ... Conversations are happening over whether organizations should be bringing in outside consultants or hiring more employees, executives say. ... In 2023, a record 133 million individuals were potentially affected by healthcare data breaches, according to the Health and Human Services Department's Office for Civil Rights breach portal. ... One of the biggest challenges healthcare organizations face in dealing with these threats is hiring qualified talent, according to a survey of cybersecurity professionals within the industry the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society published in March.

PACS Group subsidiaries to acquire 53 long-term care properties across 8 states McKnights Senior Living; by Kathleen Steele Gaivin; 5/24/24 PACS Group is on an accelerated growth trajectory since going public earlier this month. ... The Farmington, UT-based holding company announced plans Thursday for subsidiaries to acquire the operations of 53 skilled nursing facilities and senior living communities across eight western states. The properties currently are being operated by Prestige Care or Prestige Senior Living. The company anticipates that the transactions will close in the third quarter. PACS Group already is one of the country’s largest nursing home operators. Founded in 2013, the company’s portfolio includes more than 200 facilities, mostly SNFs but also some assisted living communities.

Early talks about governance essential for nonprofit hospice affiliations Hospice News, by Jim Parker; 5/28/24 Nonprofit hospices can combine their businesses in a number of ways, including traditional acquisitions, board member substitutions and other types of affiliations. However, member substitutions are becoming more common, according to Meg Pekarske, partner at the law firm Husch Blackwell. While this model offers benefits it can also become a political minefield that can sink an affiliation. ...

56 percent willing to dip into retirement savings to be family caregiver: surveyMcKnights Senior Living; by Kathleen Steele Gaivin; 5/23/24 Fifty-six percent of Americans participating in a new survey said they would be willing to take a loan from their own retirement fund to become a caregiver for someone else. Results of the Nationwide Retirement Institute 2024 Long-Term Care Survey were released Tuesday. The research, conducted online March 12 through April 2 by The Harris Poll on behalf of Nationwide, surveyed 1,334 adults aged 28 or more years who had household incomes of at least $75,000. Dipping into retirement savings can make a serious dent into long-term finances. Forty-two percent of the respondents said they believe that being a family caregiver likely will use up the money they had planned for the future, and 43% of the total said that they are afraid that caregiving expenses will keep them from ever retiring.Editor's Note: Pair this with another article in today's newsletter, "The real cost of cancer: 49% of patients carry $5K+ in medical debt." 

Hospice CAHPS scores updated 5/22/24CMS CAHPS® website; multiple updates posted 5/22/24 CMS has posted numerous CAHPS® Hospice Survey updates. Click on the title's link to access the CMS site. Click on "Care Compare Reporting Updates" or the following 5/22/24 updates:

Hospice of the Red River Valley awarded $2 million grantNewsDakota; by Steve Urness; 5/25/24The North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services, Medical Services Division, has awarded a substantial grant of up to $2 million to Hospice of the Red River Valley. This grant is designated for the expansion of home and community-based services to Medicaid members residing in under served regions of North Dakota.

What AccentCare’s clinicians wanted from the company’s AI implementationHome Health Care News; by Joyce Famakinwa; 5/23/24Like many others, AccentCare has embraced artificial intelligence. However, the company wasn’t satisfied with implementing generative AI and looping in its clinicians afterwards. Instead, the company made its nurses a part of this process from the start. “It’s our philosophy at AccentCare that we don’t make changes to clinical practice without having a conversation with the people who are delivering clinical care,” Tracy Dent, vice president of clinical operations at AccentCare, told Home Health Care News. “They’re the people who are delivering care at the bedside. We want to make sure they have a voice in decisions that are going to impact their ability to do so.”Editor's Note: Pair this with another article in today's newsletter, "Three ways to communicate with Gen-Z—and why it’s important."