Beyond the checklist: MARly app introduces caregiver OS to detect early changes in condition and organize care at home
simPAL Solutions press release; 3/24/26
MARly is a healthspan companion app designed to support patients, caregivers, and care teams in delivering safer, more coordinated care at home. Its Caregiver OS features are designed to make care at home more practical, organized, and sustainable for caregivers and families. New care coordination function transforms everyday caregiving by providing real-time insight—supporting caregivers while helping care teams stay ahead of avoidable health crises. simPAL Solutions has announced an early access release of Caregiver OS (Caregiver Operating System), a new care coordination function within its MARly App designed to help caregivers organize care at home while capturing early signs of health change that often go unseen between clinical visits. [For additional information, visit www.marly.health.]

Power outages can quickly become emergencies for families with home medical devices 
Hawai'i Public Radio; by Savannah Harriman-Pote; 3/25/26 
... Power outages from this month's storms have sent ripples through the health care system. ... Access to power is crucial for people who rely on certain medical devices like oxygen machines. Faye Mitchell, executive director of North Hawaiʻi Hospice, said these at-home machines allow her patients to receive care in the comfort of their homes. Without electricity to operate them, some of her more vulnerable patients need to go to a hospital. North Hawaiʻi Hospice provides palliative in-home care to about 25 patients spread out across northwest Hawaiʻi Island. One of their patients is a young boy who requires a medical device to breathe properly. "This is a child that's so fragile that when he can't breathe properly, they have to fly to Oʻahu," Mitchell said. "So it's really not a matter of inconvenience. It's really a serious issue." Mitchell said they care for patients as best as they can during power outages. North Hawaiʻi Hospice has a trained safety officer who reviews emergency plans with families, and patients who require oxygen are given extra oxygen tanks if weather conditions might cause the power to go out.
Editor's Note: What emergency disaster risks are prevalent for your service areas? Floods, hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, extreme heat, ice, something else? Today, get to know (and bookmark) USA Today's National Power Outage Map Tracker, updated every 15 minutes. For the future, be as ready as possible, using these and other resources.

• CMS.gov Emergency Preparedness Rule
• American Red Cross Disaster and Emergency Preparedness and Relief
• National Emergency Management Association
• Composing Life's "Community Crisis and Grief," with Key National Organizations for Community Crisis Preparation, Relief, and Recovery

‘No one is safe’ in CMS’ fraud fight 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 3/25/26 
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is casting a wide net in its anti-fraud efforts, and some legitimate providers are finding themselves on the hook. ... CMS has pledged to crack down hard on fraudulent hospices, but to date some of their efforts lack transparency and could represent a threat to honest providers, according to Andrew Brenton, attorney with Husch Blackwell. “With the wide net that CMS is casting, certainly, good hospices are being caught up in that,” Brenton said at the Hospice News ELEVATE conference. “I think no one is really safe, because a lot of this is a black box; the methodology by which CMS chooses which hospices to audit or otherwise target for enforcement is kind of unknown.”

Otterbein Universal Hospice expands services into Franklin and Licking counties 
The Warren County Post, Lebanon, OH; by Beth Callahan; 3/17/26 
Otterbein SeniorLife is pleased to announce the expansion of Otterbein Universal Hospice services into Franklin and Licking counties, extending its mission of compassionate, person-centered end‐of‐life care to more communities across the greater Columbus region. Otterbein Universal Hospice, part of the Otterbein SeniorLife organization, has a strong legacy of leadership in hospice care and is one of three Otterbein hospice agencies collectively serving 25 counties across Ohio. 

Palliative care should be integrated into cardiology therapy earlier, says study 
Medical Xpress; by Inka Väth; 3/25/26 
An international group of authors has called for a shift in cardiovascular care. ... For clinical practice, the group of authors therefore recommends a stronger structural integration of palliative care content into cardiology. This includes interdisciplinary care teams, shared treatment models, and more intensive training in internal communication and symptom management. Palliative care should also be given greater consideration in medical education. ... Palliative care should be the standard in cardiology, not the exception. After all, the success of sustainable cardiology will not be measured solely by how long people live, but by how well they can live.

Oncology-embedded supportive care and end-of-life outcomes: a comparative study of hospice-eligible Muslim patients with cancer and non-cancer diagnoses 
Supportive Care in Cancer; by Manahil Imran, Basel Ghurm Alshehri, Muhammad Ali Akhtar, Raafey Imran, Umar Iqbal, Maryam Imran, Aaliyaan Iqbal, Ibrahim M. Imran, Ibrahim T. Malik, Tabindeh Jabeen Khalid, Mohsin Iqbal, Belal Mohammad Sharaf, and Imran Khalid; 3/24/26 
... Conclusions: An oncology-embedded supportive care model in a Muslim-majority setting was associated with earlier transitions to comfort-focused care and less aggressive end-of-life interventions among hospice-eligible cancer patients. The contrast with non-cancer patients highlights the importance of structured supportive care integration and demonstrates that models adapted to cultural and religious contexts can effectively support comfort-focused care.

Keys to reinvigorating hospice quality 
Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 3/24/26 
Health care disparities across a swelling aging population are driving a need for evolutionary change in hospice quality standards. ... Staffing shortages are playing a more significant role in the push for regulation changes, Hospice Analytics CEO Cordt Kassner said. Keeping pace with rising demand and fewer staffing resources has hospices seeking creative avenues, Kassner indicated. Leveraging technology has helped some hospices to improve clinical capacity and staffing ratios. However, more regulatory change that supports expanded hospice and palliative care education and greater transparency around staffing could go a long way in quality improvement, he said. “We can create these staffing ratios, but if they aren’t publicly reported and available how helpful are they?” Kassner said in the assembly. “It makes sense that we would want the experts, the people with the most experience in this field, to be helping to craft the regulations. ..."
Editor's Note: Cordt Kassner, PhD, is also the owner and publisher for Hospice & Palliative Care Today.

The limits of efficiency in home health’s cost-cutting era 
Home Health Care News; by Morgan Gonzales; 3/24/26
With reimbursement pressures, rising inflation and rampant workforce shortages, efficiency has become a top priority for many home-based care providers. But efficiency initiatives carry certain risks if not executed with precision. The home-based care industry must retain a long-range view when looking to improve efficiency, according to Zac Long, CEO of Well Care Health, a family-owned and operated home health and hospice provider. ... “What AI does is just basically pour gasoline on an existing process,” Long said. “So if that process isn’t 100% buttoned up and compliant, it can create a lot of risk when you pour gas on it. ..."

Mass AI job replacement? Not in healthcare, CIOs say 
Becker's Health IT; by Giles Bruce; 3/18/26 
While some doomsayers predict that AI will replace human workers en masse, health system CIOs told Becker’s that healthcare, so reliant on the human touch, is safe. But that doesn’t mean duties won’t change dramatically. In late February, an investment analyst scenario outlining economic cataclysm caused by AI momentarily jolted the stock market. The authors, from Citrini Research, imagined white-collar job openings “collapsing” in late 2026, with blue-collar hiring staying “relatively stable.” While healthcare may be best described as “gray-collar,” the sector is still the nation’s largest employer, driving much of the country’s job growth over the past few decades. Could AI change that equation? ...

Hospice of St. Lawrence Valley grief services coordinator discusses deeper meaning for spring cleaning 
North Country Now, Potsdam, NY; by Kate Favaro; 3/26/26 
There is something about those first few spring days in the North Country that makes us want to throw all the windows up and let in the fresh air and sunlight. Spring cleaning has become a ritual of sorts. ... Hospice of St. Lawrence Valley offers the following when considering a deeper meaning behind spring cleaning: ... widen your idea of what spring cleaning can involve. Start with the basics and work out from there. Clean out a drawer. Label a photograph. Update a document or password. Tell a trusted person where they can find the important papers. Sometimes the most meaningful spring cleaning happens where no one else can see it, but everyone you love will one day feel its impact.

Executive Personnel Changes - 3/27/26

• St. Croix Hospice, with more than 90 locations throughout the midwest, announced the addition of Tami Johnson-White as Chief Compliance Officer.  Johnson-White assumes the Chief Compliance Officer position with a focus on cultivating collaborative teams, enhancing transparency and refining processes to better support hospice operations. 

Managing to have a sense of humor makes it a lot easier to  manage people. ~ Steve Wilson