Literature Review

Pharmacies of the future: 4 keys to reinventionForbes; by Jenn Vande Zande; 3/11/25... “To continue to meet growing patient needs, we must evolve how community pharmacy works and, most importantly, how we support our pharmacy teams to create a sustainable future for community pharmacy,” Prem Shah, president of pharmacy and consumer wellness at CVS Health, said, referring to findings from the company’s Rx Report from January 2024. Based on those findings, CVS says there’s a “critical need for sustainable and scalable industry-wide change, such as operational improvements and digital innovations to better support pharmacy teams behind the counter.” Here are four focus areas for pharmacies to bring about that change:

House sets up potential Medicaid cuts with budget bill passage Modern Healthcare; by Michael McAliff; 2/25/25 Republicans in the House took the first step Tuesday [2/25] toward steep potential healthcare cuts, passing a budget resolution that aims to trim spending by at least $1.5 trillion while also adding trillions to the debt to fund tax cuts. The House voted 217-215 on nearly party lines to begin what is known as budget reconciliation, passing a budget resolution that instructs committees to come up with cuts or extend tax cuts that largely benefit the wealthy. The bill mandates the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid and Medicare, come up with the majority of the savings, and cut $880 billion.

Palliative care’s most disruptive forces in 2025 Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 2/25/25 Palliative care providers are taking varied routes to address the most disruptive forces they are encountering this year, rising to challenges that have been persistent across the sector. Mounting workforce pressures mark the most significant of concerns for palliative care providers, according to Dr. Martha Twaddle, The Waud Family Medical Directorship’s palliative medicine and supportive care clinical professor of medicine at Northwestern Medicine. The nation lacks a sufficient supply of palliative care professionals amid a swelling population of seriously ill patients, driving up demand. Current reimbursement streams are challenging the staffing issues even further, Twaddle stated. ... Workforce shortages and lack of sustainable reimbursement are indeed the largest obstacles to palliative care growth, according to Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) CEO Brynn Bowman.

Navigating palliative care models in ACO partnerships Hospice News; by Markisan Naso; 2/14/25 Partnerships between health care providers and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) can help to create effective, value-based palliative care models for patients, but navigating the development of those relationships requires communication and a true commitment to collaboration. ... “ACOs are looking for high-quality care that reduces avoidable crises, and specialty palliative care has been proven to do just that,” Allison Silvers, chief of health care transformation at the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), told Palliative Care News. ... 

Living Well New York: Compassionate care for a better quality of life Mid Hudson News, Hudson Valley, NY; by Mid-Hudson News Staff; 2/12/25 United Hospice ... is proud to introduce Living Well New York, a groundbreaking program designed to enhance the lives of patients facing serious illnesses. By providing in-home palliative care through a combination of home visits and telehealth support, Living Well New York ensures that patients and their families receive the highest level of comfort, care, and guidance when they need it most.

Medicare's 2025 physician pay cut, explainedBecker's Hospital CFO Report; by Stefanie Asin; 2/5/25 As of Jan. 1, Medicare is paying physicians almost 3% less than last year for services provided to the country's 66 million Medicare patients. The decreased payments aren't a surprise or anything new, as CMS, by law, must keep physician payments budget neutral (cannot raise total Medicare spending by more than $20 million in a year). As a result, since 2020, Medicare has cut physician pay each year ... [Click on the title's link to continue reading these items.]

Palliative care is essential for seriously ill patients—at any ageAMA (American Medical Association); by Kevin B. O'Reilly; 1/27/25 The AMA House of Delegates has adopted new policies outlining physicians’ ethical obligation to provide or seek optimal palliative care for patients with serious illnesses who can benefit from comprehensive management of pain and other distressing symptoms—not only those with terminal illnesses or on the precipice of death. “Physicians have clinical ethical responsibilities to address the pain and suffering occasioned by illness and injury and to respect their patients as whole persons,” says one of the new policies adopted at the latest AMA Interim Meeting, held in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. “These duties require physicians to assure the provision of effective palliative care whenever a patient is experiencing serious, chronic, complex or critical illness, regardless of prognosis.” 

U.S. health care spending reaches $4.9 trillion Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 12/20/24 The nation’s total health expenditures rose 7.5% to $4.9 trillion in 2023, a new analysis by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) found. This growth took place at a faster pace in 2023 than prior years. In 2022, health care spending rose at a rate of 4.6%. Total Medicare hospice spending accounted for $25.7 billion last year, according to a separate report from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). ... About 21% of U.S. health care spending in 2023 was via Medicare, with private insurance representing a 30% share. Medicaid accounted for 21%, and the remaining 10% were out-of-pocket costs. “Hospital care, physician and clinical services, and nursing care facilities and continuing care retirement communities, which collectively accounted for 33% of all out-of-pocket spending in 2023, were the main contributors to the faster growth in 2023,” CMS indicated.

Michigan Center for Rural Health announces new program focused on improving rural based palliative care PRLOG - Press Release Distribution, East Lansing, MI; by Michigan Center for Rural Health - Amanda St. Martin; 12/16/24 The Michigan Center for Rural Health (MCRH) has announced Phase Two of its palliative care programming. Palliative care provides relief from symptoms, pain, and stress associated with serious illnesses and can be administered alongside curative treatments. It is suitable for patients of any age or illness stage. The program titled "Cultivating Comfort: Enhancing Palliative Care in Rural Michigan," funded by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, will launch on January 1, 2025, and continue through December 2026. ...  Rural adults tend to experience a higher prevalence of chronic conditions compared to their urban counterparts, as they are often older, poorer, and more likely to have multiple chronic illnesses. MCRH's new program seeks to address this need through a community driven approach.

Two states lead the pack on palliative care access, many lag behind Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 12/10/24 Two states — Massachusetts and Oregon — rise above the rest when it comes to access to palliative care. This is according to the new rankings from the Center to Advance Palliative Care, America’s Readiness to Meet the Needs of People with Serious Illness Scorecard. The scorecard ranks each state’s capacity to deliver high-quality care to people facing serious illness on a five-star scale by evaluating five domains, according to Stacie Sinclair, the associate director for policy and care transformation at the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). To develop the scorecard, CAPC applied an updated methodology that considers metrics beyond those used in previous reports, which only examined the availability of palliative care in hospitals with 50 beds or more. 

Bloom Healthcare CEO: Integrating palliative care into every decision Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 12/3/24 The house call provider Bloom Healthcare has leveraged its integrated palliative-primary care model to achieve substantial reductions in hospitalizations and health care costs. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently recognized Bloom as a top performing High-Needs Accountable Care Organization under the agency’s Realizing Equity, Access and Community Health (ACO REACH) model. Through its ACO REACH program, Bloom reduced unplanned hospital readmissions by 25% and realized a gross cost savings rate of 24.6%. The company’s patients averaged 326.7 days at home during  2023. Bloom Healthcare cares for about 10,000 high-needs patients with a comprehensive primary care and care management model that incorporates palliative care. The company currently operates in Colorado and Texas. ... Palliative Care News sat down with Bloom CEO Dr. Thomas Lally to discuss the strategies the company used to garner these results and how palliative care factored in. [Click on the title's link to continue reading.]

Addus closes $350M Gentiva Personal Care deal Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 12/2/24 Addus HomeCare Corporation (Nasdaq: ADUS) has closed its $350 million acquisition of Gentiva’s personal care business. Gentiva’s personal care segment brings in annual revenues of close to $280.0 million. Post-transaction, Addus will continue with a leverage ratio of less than 3x, with the ability to further that amount with the influx of revenue resulting from this deal, Addus Chairman and CEO Dirk Allision said in a statement. ... Addus provides personal care, home health and hospice to more than 48,500 patients across 22 states. Its total revenue reached $289.8 million in the Q3 of 2024, a 7% year-over-year increase. Its personal care revenues reached $215.4 million that period.

Hospice of Northwest Ohio will operate ProMedica's palliative care services CBS WTOL 11, Toledo, OH; by Karmann Ludwig; 11/18/24 Hospice of Northwest Ohio will operate ProMedica's palliative care services at the start of next year, according to a press release from Hospice released Monday. The company said ProMedica's patients who remain in palliative care will be transferred to Sincera Supportive Care and Symptom Relief, one of Hospice of Northwest Ohio's services. Sincera will also take over responsibility for ProMedica's palliative care outpatient clinics, Hospice of Northwest Ohio said.