Literature Review

Bon Secours Mercy Health posts $123.9M operating loss; new CFO to begin July 1 Becker's Hospital CFO Report, by Alan Condon; 3/26/24 Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health reported a $123.9 million operating loss (-1% margin) in 2023, improving on the $323.5 million operating loss (-2.9% margin) in 2022, according to financial documents published March 25. ... Agency costs declined from $504.1 million in 2022 to $256.2 million in 2023. ... Debbie Bloomfield, PhD, will retire as CFO at the end of 2024 after more than three decades with the health system. She will begin transitioning from her CFO role on July 1 and shift to financial leadership oversight of the system's subsidiaries. Travis Crum, senior vice president of finance, will take over as CFO on July 1. 

Hospitalists more likely to recommend hospice than specialists: Study Becker's Hospital Review, by Mariah Taylor; 3/27/24 A New Haven, CT-based Yale School of Medicine study [published in the American Cancer Society Journals] suggests oncology hospitalists have better hospice utilization and reduce hospital stays for cancer patients compared to oncologists. Researchers compared referrals for hospice settings from hospitalist-led services and oncologist-led services. Hospitalist-led services referred 11.8% of patients to inpatient hospice settings, nearly double the referral rate of oncologist-led services (5.8%). The adjusted average length of stay before inpatient hospice care was 6.83 days for hospitalist-led care and 16.29 days for oncologist-led care. 

Northwell hospital nurses set strike date Becker's Hospital Review, by Kelly Gooch; 3/22/24 Members of the New York State Nurses Association are set to strike April 2 at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City. The union represents 1,300 workers at the facility, according to an NYSNA news release. ... The union cited concerns about having enough staffing to meet the needs of the Staten Island community and contends wages are also still a key sticking point at the bargaining table. Members are seeking a contract that ensures enough experienced nurses are at the bedside to provide safe patient care.

Eight nurses from St. Vincent Hospital filed suit yesterday in Worcester Superior Court against Tenet Healthcare for wrongful termination after blowing the whistle on unsafe patient care conditions ABC WATE.com 6 / Cision PR Newswire; by Massachusetts Nurses Association; 3/22/24 Eight registered nurses represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association at St. Vincent Hospital filed a lawsuit yesterday in Worcester Superior Court against the hospital and its owner, Dallas-based for-profit owner Tenet Healthcare alleging they were fired for exercising their legal and professional obligation to report "unsafe and illegal conduct and conditions" that jeopardized the health and dignity of the patients under their care. ... last month the nurses' claims were validated by The Joint Commission, which conducted an investigation into the nurses' complaints and found the hospital to be "non-compliant with applicable Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) Conditions."

Researchers advocate for more home-based options for end-of-life care McKnights Home Care, by Adam Healy; 3/25/24 As older adults increasingly prefer to receive end-of-life care in their homes, new, community-based options will be critical to help patients achieve a home death, according to a new research review published in Palliative Care and Social Practice. ... The researchers analyzed 28 studies conducted between 2002 and 2023 related to factors that affect patients’ abilities to achieve a home death. One persistent issue, they found, was a lack of available home palliative care services. 

A $400M incentive drives hospitals to meet health equity goalsModern Healthcare, by Kara Hartnett; 3/21/24 Hospitals across Massachusetts are building infrastructure to examine health disparities and address social needs, driven by new incentives within the state's Medicaid program. The program is authorized to pay out $400 million annually to private acute-care hospitals, divided among those that comply with an evolving set of operational and quality standards related to health equity. Eventually, healthcare organizations will receive distributions based on their ability to close gaps in care.

Providence Chief Nursing Officer: All hospitals should be using these 3 tools MedCity News, by Katie Adams; 3/19/24 The workforce shortage is especially acute among nurses. There are 193,100 projected job openings per year for nurses in the U.S. between 2022 and 2032, but only 177,400 new nurses are predicted to enter the workforce during that entire 10-year period. That isn’t even enough to fill one year’s worth of the projected job openings. In order for this issue to improve, hospitals must embrace the technology on the market that has been proven to alleviate nurse burnout, said Syl Trepanier, chief nursing officer at Providence, in a recent interview at the ViVE conference in Los Angeles. ...

Palliative Care Movement achieves significant progress in California California Health Care Foundation, by Claudia Boyd-Barrett; 3/19/24 ... Palliative care has taken root in California over the past 15 years, driven by hundreds of leaders within health plans, hospitals, clinics, home care agencies, advocacy and education organizations, and state government. ... Some of California’s greatest palliative care progress has been accomplished in programs serving people at the lowest income levels through the state’s Medi-Cal program and through public health care systems.

Long-term care costs can cripple families with aging loved ones. Turlock has a solution - Opinion The Modesto Bee, by Jeffrey Lews and Francesa Rinaldo; 3/17/24The sudden closures of the Brandel Manor nursing home and Cypress Place Assisted Living have left many in Turlock and the surrounding communities wondering where they will find quality care for their loved [ones]. ... The Turlock City Council approved a $400,000 grant to support the Legacy Health Endowment Person-Centered Care (PCC) program, an innovative initiative offering comprehensive in-home support services for families looking after aging loved ones. The program aims to assist families by providing care while safeguarding against premature placement into a nursing home or the fear of re-hospitalization. 

When the American Dream becomes survival: Short doc chronicles rural healthcare crisis PBS - KET, by Nathan Duke; 3/17/24 Director Ramin Bahrani’s acclaimed films ... focus on people struggling to survive due to economic challenges or failing to achieve the mythologized American Dream. His latest, the short documentary If Dreams Were Lightning: Rural Healthcare Crisis, is a startling look at the challenges facing rural communities in which hospitals are closing and leaving residents without options for care. The film incorporates themes from Bahrani’s previous work, but its subjects’ struggles are far from fictional. 

Expanding horizons: New palliative care services introduced in Valparaiso ABNewswire; 3/14/24 South Valparaiso Immediate & Urgent Care Clinic is proud to announce the expansion of its healthcare services with the introduction of comprehensive palliative care. ... The South Valparaiso palliative care team consists of highly skilled professionals, including physicians, nurses, social workers, and chaplains, who work collaboratively to develop personalized care plans for each patient. 

Palliative Care integration on the rise Hospice News, by Jim Parker; 3/13/24A range of medical specialties are incorporating palliative care principles into their care models. The trend points to ways that patients might receive palliative services through new avenues, such as geriatrics, primary care or home health care. 

Few hospitals follow recommended practices for evidence-based suicide care Pew, by Farzana Akkas; 3/12/24 In 2022, suicide claimed the lives of an estimated 49,449 people in the United States. ... Research has shown that almost half of those who die by suicide interact with the health care system within four weeks of their deaths. And those who are hospitalized for suicide risk face an elevated risk of dying by suicide post-discharge, making this a critical time for these patients to have access to resources, support, and care that can keep them safe in the event of a suicidal crisis. But new research shows that only 8% of hospitals in the U.S. have instituted all the key components of evidence-based, best-practice interventions to help at-risk patients who are discharged after receiving care. In fact, more than 1 in 4 are not conducting any of these interventions.