2 West Covina women arrested for alleged $4.8 million hospice care fraud 
CBS News KCAL, Los Angeles, CA; by Julie Sharp; 6/3/25 
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that two West Covina women were arrested Tuesday for an alleged scheme to defraud Medicare of $4.8 million with false hospice care claims. One of the women who was arrested is the owner and operator of two West Covina hospices, Golden Meadows Hospice Inc., and D'Alexandria Hospice Inc., which billed Medicare for hospice services for patients who were allegedly not terminally ill.  Between Sept. 2018 and Oct. 2022, owner and operator Normita Sierra, 71, and her alleged accomplice, Rowena Elegado, 55, collected more than $3.8 million from Medicare on false claims, the DOJ said.

Hospices facing a US caregiving ‘crisis’ 
Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 6/2/25 
Family caregivers in the United States are being challenged by a swelling aging population inneed of greater support and stronger policy infrastructures. Much room for improvement exists at both state and federal levels when it comes to recognizing the important roles that family caregivers play, according to Steven Lee, co-founder and CEO of ianacare, a Boston-based patient and caregiver resource company. More innovative care models and disease-specific reimbursement options have widened pathways for hospice providers to improve family caregiver support, Lee said in a recent Hospice News Elevate podcast. But these fall short of addressing the diverse scope of practical, emotional and financial needs, he stated. 
Editor's note: This article has an excellent map of US states with caregiver categories for "Well-Supported," "Safe for Now," "High Risk," and "Critical" (courtesy of Otsuka America Pharmaceutical). Additionally, our sponsor Hospice Analytics provides the National Hospice Locator, for caregivers/families to find hospices that serve in each US county, and sorted by their quality scores. And, our sponsor Composing Life equips hospice organizations with caregiver/family video libraries that span the continuum of serious illness, hospice, and grief care. 

Death behind bars: Prisons routinely ignore guidelines on dying inmates’ end-of-life choices
KFF Health News / Times Daily; by Renuka Rayasam; 5/31/25
Brian Rigsby was lying with his right wrist shackled to a hospital bed in Montgomery, Alabama, when he learned he didn’t have long to live. It was September 2023, and Rigsby, 46, had been brought to Jackson Hospital from an Alabama state prison 10 days earlier after complaining of pain and swelling in his abdomen. Doctors found that untreated hepatitis C had caused irreversible damage to Rigsby’s liver, according to his medical records. Rigsby decided to stop efforts to treat his illness and to decline lifesaving care, a decision he made with his parents. And Rigsby’s mother, Pamela Moser, tried to get her son released to hospice care through Alabama’s medical furlough policy, so that their family could manage his end-of-life care as they saw fit. But there wasn’t enough time for the furlough request to be considered...

10 Signs death is near for dementia patients 
The Healthy; by Dr. Patricia Varacollo, DO; 6/2/25 
For families and caregivers, recognizing the final stages of dementia can be difficult, but understanding the signs can help ensure comfort and dignity in a loved one's last days. Dr. Koncilja highlights these key indicators that may suggest the end of life is near:

1. A noticeable shift in behavior: ...
2. Loss of appetite: ...
3. Difficulty swallowing: ...
4. Reduced interest in food: ...
5. Profound fatigue: ...
6. Muscle weakness: ...
7. Communication struggles: ...
8. Increased confusion or disorientation: ...
9. Changes in breathing: ...
10. Loss of mobility: ...

Editor's note: What simple, visible referral tools do you provide for the ALF, LTC, SNF, and other senior/memory care facilities you serve? For more information, visit the national Alzheimer's Association, Stages of Alzheimer's.  Its full page details an Overview, Early-stage Alzheimer's (mild), Middle-stage Alzheimer's (moderate), and Late-stage Alzheimer's (severe). 

How do you comfort a dying parent? 
U.S. News & World Report - WTOP News; 6/1/25 
Caring for a parent who is dying can be emotionally taxing. ... Here are ten tips for how to conduct a caring conversation with someone who is dying — and how to know when to sit in silence too.

1. Assess for Distress ...
2. Ask Open-Ended Questions ...
3. Don't Rush It ...
4. Let Them Lead the Conversation ...
5. Use Wish-Worry Phrases ...
6. Avoid Platitudes ...
7. Don't Pretend to Know How It Feels ...
8. Offer Compliments and Validation ...
9. Be Mindful of Body Language ...
10. Show Support in Silence ...
    

Editor's note: While this title identifies a dying "parent," this primer is good for communicating with anyone who is dying. Call all non-clinical leaders: Practice these within the scope of your interactions with persons who are dying. Because of your hospice/palliative, your communications will be observed and will reflect upon the services your organization provides. "Actions speak louder than words."

The best leaders are spacious leaders. Here’s what that means
FastCompany; by Tracy Brower; 6/2/25
A helpful concept is spacious leadership—a management approach in which you create space for others to participate, make choices, and be their best. With spacious leadership, you also ensure space for yourself to enhance your own effectiveness and satisfaction on the job. [Article discusses:]

• The need for improved leadership
• Create space for involvement
• Create space for learning and growth
• Create space for performance
• Create space for well-being
• Create space for self-care
• The language we use

7 Brutal truths about leadership no one tells you at 29
Forbes; by Nirmal Chhabria; 5/29/25
At 29, I was handed my first leadership role. Six months later, I was drowning—my inbox was overflowing with problems, top performers were quitting and morale was plummeting. "What am I doing wrong?" I asked my mentor. "You're trying to be the hero instead of creating heroes," she replied. That conversation began my real leadership education—years of failures that revealed truths I wish I'd known from day one. Here are seven leadership insights that only experience taught me:

1. Leadership Is Service, Not Authority ...
2. Postponed Conversations Become Poisonous Problems ... 
3. Control Suffocates Innovation ...

[Click on the link above for all seven lessons and additional detail about them.]

CMS’s Hospice Star Rating System limited by missing data 
Health Affairs; by Amanda C. Chen and David C. Grabowski; 6/3/25 
Two-thirds of US hospices were not given a star rating when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced its hospice star rating system in 2022. Since then, the share of hospices without a star rating has steadily increased, including through the most recent reporting period of 2024. This suggests that the CMS hospice star rating is having limited impact. We provide recommendations for CMS and other policy makers to improve the value for hospice patients of publicly reported star ratings.

Fortune 500’s top 25 healthcare companies
Becker's Hospital Review; by Molly Gamble; 6/2/25
The 71st Fortune 500 ranks America’s largest companies by 2024 fiscal year revenue. [Results include:]

1. UnitedHealth Group (No. 3 on Fortune 500); 2024 revenue: $400.28 billion
2. CVS Health (No. 5 on Fortune 500); 2024 revenue: $372.81 billion
3. McKesson (No. 9 on Fortune 500); 2024 revenue: $308.95 billion
4. Cencora (No. 10 on Fortune 500); 2024 revenue: $293.96 billion
5. Cigna Group (No. 13 on Fortune 500); 2024 revenue: $247.12 billion

Publisher's note: Please see the Fortune 500 source document for entire list, while Becker's highlights healthcare companies on this list.

The Roaring ‘20s: Hospice of the Valley hosts senior prom 
Arcadia News, Phoenix, AZ; by Mallory Gleich; 6/1/25 
At the Dementia Care and Education Campus in Arcadia, the spirit of the Roaring ’20s came to life as Hospice of the Valleyhosted its second annual senior prom. With pearls, feathers, vintage flair, and a whole lot of heart, this unforgettable evening was more than just a dance, it was a joyful celebration of life, connection, and music. Around 80 guests – a mix of Adult Day Club members, assisted living residents, spouses, family members, staff, and volunteers – attended the soiree. From the start, the event buzzed with anticipation and excitement. For many, this was a chance to relive a moment they had missed, or rewrite one that had fallen short in their youth. 

The persons behind our patients - Individualized assessment tools for personalized care
JAMA Internal Medicine; by Ruchi Bhatia; 6/2/25
In clinical medicine, we rely heavily on bulleted templates to conduct and document care. These templates help capture the complexity of the medical problems we treat... However, the checklists we use often fail to provide a holistic narrative of the patient’s story... Reviewing the details of these checklists during the visit may aid decision-making but limits face-to-face interactions and can distract from understanding the unique person in the patient... Relying exclusively on checklists can unintentionally prevent patients from sharing their personhood and will not elicit complex concerns, such as fears of getting older, dying, or being written off.
Publisher's note: Several recent stories we've covered extol the benefits of AI in healthcare; this story articulates some of the risks.

Medical robots to the rescue: New technologies to help our health
NIH News in Health; 6/2/25
What do you think of when you hear the word robot? Is it a human-like assistant with a friendly face, or a large and menacing foe? Generally, a robot is a machine that that’s been built to perform specific tasks. [This article highlights:]

• Social robots help out
• Robots for surgery
• Wearable robotics

Publisher's note: That the article is from NIH is just as interesting as the content itself.

Confronting global inequities in palliative care 
BMJ Global Health; by Anna Peeler, Oladayo Ayobami Afolabi, Katherine E Sleeman, Maha El Akoum, Nahla Gafer, Asmus Hammerich, Richard Harding; 5/15/25

• Palliative care has been shown to improve outcomes, yet only about 14% of people around the world who need it receive it, primarily in high-income countries.
• We describe progress in palliative care development over the last 10 years and identify key systemic barriers to people receiving the care that they need.
• We also make evidence-based recommendations relating to death and health literacy, education and training, sustainable funding, research, opioid availability, and international monitoring to encourage collaborative, coordinated global action in expanding access to quality palliative care services equitably.
• We also provide case examples where targeted action has been successful in improving access to palliative care services to serve as guides for similar contexts.

[United Kingdom] Group treks Great Wall of China to raise £85k 
BBC News; by Emma Petrie; 5/31/25 
A group of people who trekked along the Great Wall of China have raised more than £85,000 in support of a hospice. The team took on the challenge to fundraise for Dove House Hospice, which is a charity that provides respite and end-of-life care for people in Hull and East Yorkshire. The hospice warned they were facing a funding shortfall in April due to rising costs. ... Twenty people signed up for the site's latest fundraising challenge and set off for China 17 May, walking a 31-mile (50km) route along the Great Wall. Upon her return, Ms. [Ruth] Scott said: "It's not an easy walk, incredibly steep in places, ... The views are just unbelievable. You can't comprehend."

The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it. ~ John Ruskin