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Welcome to Hospice & Palliative Care Today, a daily email summarizing numerous topics essential for understanding the current landscape of serious illness and end-of-life care. Recent TCN Talks podcasts / videos reviewing Hospice & Palliative Care Today monthly content available: January 2024; February 2024; March 2024.
Sunday newsletters focus on headlines and top read stories of the last week (in order) - enjoy!
Measuring decision aid effectiveness for end-of-life care: A systematic review
PEC Innovation; M. Courtney Hughes, Erin Vernon, Chinenye Egwuonwu, Oluwatoyosi Afolabi; 4/24
A total of 715 articles were initially identified, with 43 meeting the inclusion criteria. Outcome measures identified included decisional conflict, less aggressive care desired, knowledge improvements, communication improvements, tool satisfaction, patient anxiety and well-being, and less aggressive care action completed. The majority of studies reported positive outcomes especially when the decision aid development included International Patient Decision Aid Standards.
Publisher's note: Also by these co-authors, please see The effectiveness of community-based palliative care program components: A systematic review (Age and Ageing, 2023) and Measuring effectiveness in community-based palliative care programs: A systematic review (Social Science & Medicine, 2022).
UK survey finds 65% of adults are worried about access to palliative care
Medical Xpress; by King's College London; 4/30/24
A survey commissioned by King's College London, and carried out by YouGov, has found that 65% of people across the U.K. are worried about access to palliative and end of life care, and 41% think there is too little NHS resource allocated to palliative care. The survey of 2,164 adults across the U.K. was commissioned by the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care at King's to explore people's knowledge and experiences of palliative and end of life care. ... Findings from the survey conducted in January 2024 show that nearly a quarter of people (24%) across the U.K. say they don't know much about or have not heard of palliative care, with disparities in knowledge between white and ethnic minority groups.
Examining how improper payments cost taxpayers billions and weaken Medicare and Medicaid
HHS-OIG; by Christi A. Grimm, Inspector General, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 4/16/24
HHS Inspector General Christi A. Grimm Testifies Before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on April 16, 2024. IG Grimm briefs members on HHS-OIG's work to address improper payments in Medicare and Medicaid managed care programs.
Click here to watch the testimony.
45 top healthcare workplaces for mental well-being: Newsweek
Becker's Hospital Review; by Alexis Kayer, 4/22/24
Newsweek has named 45 hospitals and health systems among its 750 greatest employers for mental well-being. The publication partnered with data researchers Plant-A to rank the top U.S. workplaces "making a positive difference in the mental wellness of their workers," according to a five-stage evaluation. ... Here are the 45 hospitals and health systems included on the list, excluding organizations that exclusively provide long-term, hospice, rehabilitative and medical care, or staffing and management services: [Click on the title's link for the list.]
Editor's Note: Is your organization on the list? Or perhaps a colleague's organization? Forward this to them with your congratulations! Invite them to join our newsletter for free at www.HospicePalliativeCareToday.com/registration.
Executive Personnel Changes - 5/3/24
E-book: "Combating loneliness in senior living residents: A call to action"
McKnights Senior Living; 4/24/24
Discover in [this] e-book:
Editor's Note: In March, one of the articles you--our readers--most read was "Rising suicide risk among seniors due to loneliness, mobility, financial insecurity, study finds," posted in our 3/7/24 and 3/17/24 (Sunday's "most read") issues.
Hospice Claims Edits for Certifying Physicians
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS); Related CR Release Date 4/18/24; Effective Date: 5/1/24; Implementation Date: 10/7/24
Related CR Title: Additional Implementation Edits on Hospice Claims for Hospice Certifying Physician Medicare Enrollment
Starting May 1, 2024, we’ll deny hospice claims if the certifying physician, including hospice physician and hospice attending physician, isn’t on our PECOS hospice ordering and referring files. This addresses hospice program integrity and quality of care per Section 6405 of the Affordable Care Act.
Affected Providers
Action Needed
HHS issues new rule to strengthen nondiscrimination protections and advance Civil Rights in health care
HHS Press Office; 4/26/24
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) advancing protections against discrimination in health care. By taking bold action to strengthen protections against discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, and disability, this rule reduces language access barriers, expands physical and digital accessibility, tackles bias in health technology, and much more.
Signify Health President: ‘We’re just scratching the surface’ on what can be done in the home
Home Health Care News; by Andrew Donlan; 4/26/24
Signify Health was purchased by CVS Health for $8 billion in March 2023. Now, it’s one of the core tenants of CVS Healthspire, the health care services segment that CVS executives are banking on to drive future growth for the company. Paymon Farazi, the president of Signify Health, recently joined Home Health Care News’ Disrupt podcast to talk about Signify’s direction over a year after the CVS deal was closed, how the company could work with traditional home-based care providers in the future and where Farazi sees Signify – and health care – headed in the near- and long-term future.
End-of-life and palliative care for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, or another diverse gender identity older adults
Clinics in Geriatric Medicine; by Evie Kalmar MD, MS, Jeffrey Mariano MD; 5/24
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, or another diverse gender identity (LGBTQ+) people are more likely to have alternative family structures. It is important to engage in advance care planning to understand their values, clarify surrogate decision makers, and contribute to goal-concordant care at the end of life. Clinicians can follow recommendations in this article to ensure they are providing LGBTQ-inclusive palliative and hospice care.
Quality in Motion: Acting on the CMS National Quality Strategy
CMS - Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; 4/22/24
In 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the CMS National Quality Strategy (NQS), a plan aimed at improving the quality and safety of health care for everyone, with a special focus on people from underserved and under-resourced communities. ... The CMS National Quality Strategy has four priority areas, each with two goals. This action plan provides details on how CMS is putting these eight goals into action.
Editor's Note: Download this CMS April 2024, 54-page PDF.
Drug discount program is exploiting poor patients while corporate giants profit
Minnesota Reformer; by David Balto; 4/26/24
... The federal 340B drug discount program was created three decades ago to help economically vulnerable Americans access affordable prescription medications and providers in underserved areas expand and improve services. Under the program, drug companies participating in Medicaid — known in Minnesota as Medical Assistance — provide sizeable discounts as high as 50% to these ‘safety net’ health care facilities. ... Unfortunately, over time, the tens of billions of dollars flowing through this program have proven irresistible to for-profit corporate entities, including giant health systems and big box chain pharmacies — and there is no guarantee those discounts are reaching patients.
The Fine Print:
Paywalls: Some links may take readers to articles that either require registration or are behind a paywall. Disclaimer: Hospice & Palliative Care Today provides brief summaries of news stories of interest to hospice, palliative, and end-of-life care professionals (typically taken directly from the source article). Hospice & Palliative Care Today is not responsible or liable for the validity or reliability of information in these articles and directs the reader to authors of the source articles for questions or comments. Additionally, Dr. Cordt Kassner, Publisher, and Dr. Joy Berger, Editor in Chief, welcome your feedback regarding content of Hospice & Palliative Care Today. Unsubscribe: Hospice & Palliative Care Today is a free subscription email. If you believe you have received this email in error, or if you no longer wish to receive Hospice & Palliative Care Today, please unsubscribe here or reply to this email with the message “Unsubscribe”. Thank you.