Literature Review

RCT of Palliative Care for Heart Failure and Lung DiseaseGeriPal Podcast, by Eric Widera, Alex Smith, David Bekelman, Lyndsay DeGroot; 1/25/24In a JAMA 2020 systematic review of palliative care for non-cancer serious illness, Kieran Quinn found ... gaps, including very few studies of patients with lung disease, and little impact of trials on quality of life. The article we discuss today, also published in JAMA, addresses these two gaps. David Bekelman conducted a RCT of a nurse and social worker telephone intervention (ADAPT intervention) for people with heart failure and lung disease (COPD or ILD).

NY Catholics asked to oppose physician-assisted suicideCatholic Courier, by Jennifer Burke; 1/22/24New York’s Catholics are again being asked to express their opposition to physician-assisted suicide. The state’s lawmakers are once again considering legislation that would allow doctors to prescribe doses of lethal medications to terminally ill patients. 

Defining key elements of a clinical experience in hospice and palliative medicine for medical residents in the United StatesJ Med Educ Curric Dev, by Carolyn E. Kezar and Andrew J. Lawton; 1/23/24The ACGME [Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education] has ... recognized the importance of HPM [hospice and palliative medicine] training for medical residents, establishing in its 2022 Common Program Requirements for Internal Medicine a new expectation that all residents have a clinical experience in HPM. ... However, internal residencies vary significantly. ... In this perspective, we draw from the available literature and our experience as educators to propose 5 core elements for creating an optimal HPM experience for medical residents.Editor's Note: Does your hospice support nearby medical schools? Rich opportunities abound.

Mom enters hospice in final days of cancer and releases viral song for 7-year-old sonPeople, by Jordan Greene; 1/25/24Cat Janis shared her final wish – for her song 'Dance You Outta My Head' which she wrote for her 7-year-old son — to go viral. 

Death with dignity bill introduced in Virginia with message from ailing congresswomanRadio IQ, by Brad Kutner; 1/23/24Eleven states across the country have dignity in dying laws which allow those facing the end of their lives to take control over their time and manner of their death. It’s a controversial movement but one a Virginia Congresswoman is personally connected to.

'Rock bottom': San Antonio doctor addicted to opioids wrote fake prescriptions for 40,000 dosesSan Antonio Express-News, by Guillermo Contreras; 1/23/24

Hillman Foundation issues RFP for Serious Illness and End of Life program

Health system is closing two Wisconsin hospitalsChief Healthcare Executive, by Ron Southwick; 1/24/24The Hospital Sisters Health System said this week that it will close HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire and HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls over the next three months.

‘A really low blow’: Michigan environmentalists say town banned all cemeteries to stop them from opening ‘green burial ground’Law & Crime, by Elura Nanos; 1/23/24A Michigan couple is asking a state court to strike down a local ordinance banning all cemeteries that they say was put in place just to stop them from opening the environmentally friendly burial ground they had planned for over a decade.

Masonic Village Elizabethtown hosts hiring event to combat nurse shortageFox43 WPMT, by Cyera Williams; 1/24/24According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the U.S. is projected to experience a shortage of registered nurses (RNs) that is expected to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows. Masonic Village at Elizabethtown is combatting that shortage by hosting a nursing service hiring event ... 

Cleveland Clinic confiscated 30K weapons last yearBecker's Hospital Review, by Alexis Kayse; 1/24/24In 2023, Cleveland Clinic saw a record 14 million patients — and took 30,000 weapons from those patients and their visitors. Tomislav Mihaljevic, MD, president, CEO and Morton L. Mandel CEO Chair of Cleveland Clinic, delivered the statistic during the system's annual "State of the Clinic" address Jan. 24. ... Cleveland Clinic, which employs 81,000 people across 300 global locations, was designed to be an "optimal work environment," Dr. Mihaljevic said: engaging, rewarding, inclusive and safe. But workers' safety was threatened thousands of times last year, with caregivers reporting 3,800 incidents of physical and verbal violence. 

New program to provide emergency funding to rural hospitalsCapitol Beat, by Dave Williams; 1/17/24A nonprofit health-care organization announced plans ... to help financially struggling rural hospitals in Georgia in danger of closing. Ohio-based CareSource will contribute $5 million in emergency funding to hospitals and hospital-owned nursing homes in rural communities suffering critical cash deficits. Working in partnership with Cumming-based HomeTown Health, which represents rural hospitals across Georgia, the CareSource Rural Access Advancement Program will provide bridge loans to be repaid and reinvested into the program once the recipient has stabilized. Since 2010, nine rural hospitals have closed in Georgia, third-most in the nation.