Literature Review

Aged care nursing in the digital future Atlassian Jira, Australia; by Flinders University; 11/27/24 The results call for nurses to be included when digital innovations are in development, so they can actively shape their implementation and ensure high-quality, compassionate care for residents in their final stages of life. "In Australia and around the world, we have seen a significant increase in digital technologies in the health care sector," says study lead author Dr. Priyanka Vandersman, a Senior Research Fellow at Flinders University's Research Center for Palliative Care, Death and Dying (RePaDD).  "In aged care, these digital approaches can include helping with care planning and assisting with managing medication, but we need to ensure that nurses are equipped with the digital skills needed to use these tools effectively, while continuing to provide high quality, person-centered care."

Addus taking a cautious approach to hospice deals Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 11/22/24 Valuations in the hospice space have led Addus Homecare (Nasdaq: ADUS) to take a more conservative approach to hospice transactions as it actively seeks home health and personal care deals. Hospice multiples reach record highs in 2020 and 2021, as much as 26x. Since then the price tags have reportedly come down, but they haven’t gone far enough, according to Addus President and COO Brad Bickham. The company also seeks to bulk up its home health business relative to the scale of its hospice operations. “First and foremost is the pricing aspect of it. But secondly, it’s probably sequencing to a certain extent,” Bickham said during the Stephens Annual Investment Conference. “Our hospice platform is certainly significantly larger than our home health platform. We have found that home health does a good job of feeding hospice in the markets where we do have that overlap. It’d be good to essentially catch up our home and health platform at the hospice side, and certainly it’s a cheaper valuation.”

National Alliance for Care at Home lays out 2024, 2025 priorities HomeCare, Washington, DC; 11/21/24 As 2024 starts to wind down and a new administration and Congress begins to take over in Washington, home health advocates are focused on two primary priorities: reversing planned reimbursement cuts for home health and reforming plans that target underperforming hospices. As Americans gather for Thanksgiving, “these are major family issues and also major national public policy issues of the highest level of strategic importance for our country,” said Dr. Steve Landers, CEO of the National Alliance for Care at Home, the organization formed by the recent merger of the National Association for Homecare and Hopsice and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. “We’re not done with 2024 yet,” Landers said Thursday, Nov. 21. “We’ve got a lot that we want to accomplish right now, this year—and we’re looking to the future.” The number one priority, he said, is for Congress to intervene and stop home health payment cuts as outlined in a final rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). He said that the cuts would impact patient outcomes, reduce visits and hurt providers—and that they were implemented based on a Congressional mandate saying CMS should support home health.

The Alliance applauds Gerald’s Law passing through Congress National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance; formerly NAHC and NHPCO); Press Release; 11/19/24 The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) celebrates the historic passage of H.R. 8371, the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act in the U.S. House of Representatives last night with a bipartisan vote of 389-9. This landmark legislation includes Section 301, Gerald’s Law, which addresses a critical gap in benefits impacting seriously-ill veterans and their families receiving hospice care. The story of Gerald “Jerry” Elliott, a U.S. Army veteran, underscores the importance of this legislative achievement. Diagnosed with cancer, Jerry was admitted to his local Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in 2019 before transitioning to VA hospice care at home to be surrounded by his family. After his passing, his family discovered they were ineligible for full burial and funeral financial support because Jerry died outside of a VA facility.

Owatonna MN Hospice Care Program by Freedom Home Care updated and relaunched Freedom Home Care, Owatonna, MN; 11/15/24 Freedom Home Care announced the relaunch of its enhanced Hospice Care Supplement Program, designed to provide support for families and their loved ones receiving hospice care. The program addresses critical gaps by offering additional assistance with daily household tasks, personal care, family respite, overnight caregiving and 24 hour care.  ... The Hospice Care Supplement program is designed to complement the essential medical and emotional care provided by hospice teams, creating a holistic approach that prioritizes both the patient’s and the family’s well-being.

Hazel Dell couple face manslaughter charges in death of relative, 87, in their care The Columbian, Clark County, WA; by Becca Robbins; 11/14/24A Hazel Dell couple are facing charges of manslaughter and criminal mistreatment for the 2022 death of an 87-year-old relative who was under their care. ... In April 2022, state Adult Protective Services referred a report to Clark County sheriff’s detectives about the March 18 death of Marilyn Rogers at a Longview hospice facility. The woman had lived with Joel and Kathryn Rogers, her son and daughter-in-law, at their apartment before her death, according to a probable cause affidavit. ... Emergency room staffers noted Marilyn Rogers had multiple ulcers and pressure wounds that appeared to be infected. She also showed signs of dehydration and malnourishment. Blood work showed she also suffered from sepsis due to infection. ... Doctors recommended Marilyn Rogers be placed in hospice, and once she was, staff said Kathryn and Joel Rogers never visited her. Hospice staff said they struggled to get in touch with the couple for the roughly 10 days Marilyn Rogers resided there, the affidavit states.

Beacon Hill resident contributes to success of VNA Care’s annual Gala Patch, Beacon Hill, MA; by Deborah Corkum; 11/14/24 Sold-out Heroes in Health Care raised essential funds for home health and hospice care. VNA Care, the first organized visiting nurse association in the United States, raised $220,000 for patient care services during the sold-out annual Heroes in Health Care Gala at the Mandarin Oriental, Boston. Heroes in Health Care is VNA Care’s signature fundraising event and has raised nearly $4.5 million in essential funding for home health and hospice care in Massachusetts. 

New Health Equity Guide from Center to Advance Palliative Care provides a roadmap to transform care for black patients with serious illness Cision PRWeb; by Center to Advance Palliative Care; 11/13/24 Having medical concerns dismissed, not being believed when reporting pain, and facing multiple barriers to care are just three of the experiences reported to Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) in a focus group of Black patients with serious illness. In fact, when Black people in the United States are living with a serious illness like cancer, heart failure, or dementia, they experience disproportionately high suffering compared to white patients—often due to poor pain management, low-quality communication from their care teams, and high family caregiver burden. To address these inequities, CAPC has released a new, comprehensive guide, Advancing Equity for Black Patients with Serious Illness, to equip palliative care leaders and health equity change agents with practical tools to implement meaningful change. Drawn from research, examples of health equity initiatives from across the country, and the wisdom of health equity leaders, the guide provides a practical roadmap for transforming care for Black patients, and their families and caregivers.

Older Americans living alone often rely on neighbors or others willing to help California Healthline; by Judith Graham; 11/12/24Donald Hammen, 80, and his longtime next-door neighbor in south Minneapolis, Julie McMahon, have an understanding. Every morning, she checks to see whether he’s raised the blinds in his dining room window. If not, she’ll call Hammen or let herself into his house to see what’s going on. Should McMahon find Hammen in a bad way, she plans to contact his sister-in-law, who lives in a suburb of Des Moines. That’s his closest relative. Hammen never married or had children, and his younger brother died in 2022. Although Hammen lives alone, a web of relationships binds him to his city and his community — neighbors, friends, former co-workers, fellow volunteers with an advocacy group for seniors, and fellow members of a group of solo agers. ... American society rests on an assumption that families take care of their own. But 15 million Americans 50 and older didn’t have any close family — spouses, partners, or children — in 2015, the latest year for which reliable estimates are available. Most lived alone. By 2060, that number is expected to swell to 21 million. ... [Click on the title's link to continue reading.]Editor's note: This important article includes "a noteworthy study published by researchers at Emory University

National program helped 27 states develop background check processes for long-term care McKnights Senior Living; by Kimberly Bonvissuto; 11/11/24 A national background check program was so successful in helping states develop or enhance systems for conducting background checks of prospective long-term care employees that more than a quarter million prospective employees were disqualified from working in the sector, even after funding for the program ran out, according to a final report on the program. The US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General released a final analysis on Thursday of the National Background Check Program for long-term care providers. The agency reported that 29 states participated in the program between 2010 and 2024 and that the program helped 27 of them develop programs to identify efficient, effective and economical procedures for conducting background checks on prospective long-term care employees. During the National Background Check Program, states disqualified at least 106,000 individuals with criminal convictions from employment. Disqualifying criminal convictions included offenses of murder, assault, battery, robbery, theft, fraud and forgery. 

Enhabit to shutter handful of home health locations, ‘close’ to new deal with UnitedHealthcare Home Health Care News; by Andrew Donlan; 11/7/24 Enhabit Inc. (NYSE: EHAB) has a new CFO and a somewhat new strategy. It still faces a lot of the same problems. On Thursday, CEO Barb Jacobsmeyer said the company would be closing or consolidating certain locations that are underperforming, specifically when it comes to traditional Medicare business in home health care. While its payer innovation strategy is still intact, that’s largely a departure from its goal of moving more toward Medicare Advantage (MA) revenue over the last couple of years. Specifically, the company has been trying to diversify its revenue mix to become a better partner to referral sources and adjust to a more MA-dominated future. But now, after a strategic review and a battle with the activist investor AREX Capital, it seems to be re-focusing on fee-for-service revenue from traditional Medicare. ...

Long-term care market to grow by USD 394.8 billion from 2024-2028, as aging population drives demand with AI impact on market trends - Technavio Cision; by PR Newswire; 11/8/24 Report on how AI is redefining market landscape - The global long-term care (LTC) market size is estimated to grow by USD 394.8 billion from 2024-2028, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of over 3.21% during the forecast period. Growing demand for long-term care from aging population is driving market growth, with a trend towards expansion and growth of several healthcare domain. However, lack of skilled nursing staff for long-term care  poses a challenge.Key market players include Abri Health Care Services LLC, Amedisys Inc., Brookdale Senior Living Inc., CareOne Management LLC, Diversicare Healthcare Services Inc., Extendicare Canada Inc, FCP Live In, Genesis Healthcare Inc., Honor Technology Inc., Illumifin Corp., Kindred Health Holdings LLC, Life Care Centers of America Inc., Revera Inc., SeniorLiving.org, Sonida Senior Living Inc., Sunrise Senior Living LLC, and Wickshire Senior Living.

Most heart failure patients miss out on guideline-recommended palliative care Cardiovascular Business; by Dave Fornell; 11/6/24 Over the past decade, the American Heart Association (AHA) and European Society of Cardiology have recommended integrating palliative care into heart failure management. Despite these recommendations, the use of palliative care for heart failure remains low in the United States. Racial and geographic variations in access and use of palliative care are also pronounced, highlighting health disparities. These were the findings of a recent study in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Researchers at Saint Louis University led the study and said only one in eight patients with heart failure in the United States receive palliative care consultations within five years of diagnosis. Their study highlights the alarmingly low uptake of palliative care among adults with heart failure in the U.S., especially compared to patients with cancers that have the same mortality rates. The study also pointed out significant racial and geographic disparities. Black patients were 15% less likely to receive palliative care compared to their white counterparts. They said this disparity is particularly concerning given the higher cardiovascular risk and mortality rates in the Black population.