Death Nurse: February 2023

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Masters of the universe playing in the hospice sandbox

screenshot headline from Home Healthcare News: [Updated] CD&R-Backed Gentiva Agrees To Acquire ProMedica’s Home Care, Hospice Assets For $710M By Andrew Donlan | February 27, 2023

white text on black background reads: “Gentiva – the company comprised of the hospice and personal home care assets of what was formerly Kindred at Home* – has agreed to acquire ProMedica’s Heartland home health and hospice assets for $710 million.** Led by the former CEO of Kindred, David Causby, Gentiva is backed by both Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) and the private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R). Specifically, CD&R owns 60% of the business, with Humana holding onto a 40% stake post-divestiture. CD&R paid $2.8 billion*** for the ownership stake last year.” * don’t forget Curo is also in that stew ** seems cheap, place must have been in shambles *** for those keeping track at home

screenshot of lexisnexis table - top ten hospices by market share, it's annotated and a real mess from all the M&A activity, shows Gentiva leaps ahead of Vitas to grab #1 spot now with 6.4% share while Vitas has 4%+

Press release and stenography here

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

How to make BIG money in hospice - financial engineering

Park Place?

LHC Group merger with UnitedHealth formally closes

"The largest Louisiana transaction announced in 2022 was LHC Group’s pending merger with Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, in a deal valued at $5.4 billion. Approximately 70% of LHC’s revenue is derived from home health care services. UnitedHealth positioned the move as helping to advance value-based care and said it would accelerate the combined companies’ ability to deliver integrated care, leading to improved outcomes. The merger follows the larger trend of healthcare moving toward hospital-at-home services which provide both patient care and economic benefits. LHC expects the deal to close during the first quarter of 2023, after completion of an FTC review."

Louisiana experienced 206 mergers or acquisitions in 2022

Thursday, February 16, 2023

To find and choose the best hospice, first separate the useful grain from the useless chaff

2 contrasting images of a woman The image on the left is from the Medicare.gov website, it’s a contemporary straight-on photo closeup of a smiling woman including her upper chest shoulders and head, wearing a light blue denim button shirt open at the neck, with long wavy reddish hair flowing, her face is turned up and to the left as she smiles broadly The image on the right is an antique engraving illustration of Italian woman wind winnowing in Roman countryside, published on Magasin Pittoresque, Paris, 1845 This woman is standing at a basket in an open field with her arms outstretched in front of her as she holds threshed grain in her hands, letting it slowly pour down to the basket as the wind separates the useful grain from the chaff

Now THAT's Italian!

I'm out here trying to put together something that could actually be useful for patients and families, while "industry stakeholders" just keep doing their thing, because hospice is captive to profiteers

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

The most important questions to ask a hospice

Got staff?

Awkward graphic from a presentation in progress, as we cut to the nut about what really matters when you're trying to find and choose your best options for hospice

How to Choose a Hospice

By Paula Span June 17, 2014

Medicare Care Compare - Resources and information for patients and caregivers

Endgame: How the Visionary Hospice Movement Became a For-Profit Hustle
By Ava Kofman November 28, 2022

Thursday, February 9, 2023

Shocked and mortified

The nice white ladies are positively apoplectic in this run-on sentence:

"This type of behavior is antithetical to all standards and guidelines within the hospice and palliative care profession and does not represent the majority of hospice professionals, the nurses, physicians, physician assistants, social workers, chaplains, pharmacists, and other members of the inter-disciplinary team who deliver care to patients (and their caregivers) that focuses on quality of life for people who are experiencing a life-limiting illness."

Read more here