When the expert becomes the daughter: lessons from my father's hospice journey 
Provider Insights; by Annette Lee; 7/10/26 
Part 4: Leadership Lessons are often Learned at the Bedside
The most meaningful leadership lessons are often learned at the bedside. During my father's sixteen-day hospice journey, I experienced hospice not as a consultant, but as a daughter. These takeaways highlight the leadership decisions, clinical practices, and compassionate moments that transformed exceptional hospice care into an unforgettable experience for our entire family. My hope is that they inspire hospice leaders to continually ask not only, "Are we providing excellent care?" but also, "How will this family remember us?"
Editor's Note: Click here for Annette's excellent table, "Hospice Leadership Lessons Learned on the Other Side," with columns for "What Our Family Experienced," "Leadership Lesson," and "Action for Your Hospice." It fleshes out 16 concise, practical first-hand lessons, such as "A trusted first conversation," "Compassion over pressure," "Information given in manageable pieces," and more.

National Alliance for Care at Home hosts 2026 Finance and Technology Summit 
National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA; Press Release; 7/14/26 
On July 12-14, the National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) successfully hosted the 2026 Alliance Finance and Technology Summit in Boston, MA. The Summit brought together leaders from across the care at home continuum, with expert-led sessions, peer collaboration, and insights into digital transformation, data strategy, and tech-enabled care delivery. More than 600 attendees and exhibitors participated in the comprehensive program, which featured keynote presentations, concurrent educational sessions, networking opportunities, award presentations, and a fundraiser at Fenway Park for the Research Institute for Home Care.

Hospice of Midland expands adult care programs and adds children's grief support 
Midland Reporter-Telegram, Midland, TX; by Kessly Salinas; 7/13/26 
Hospice of Midland announced it will expand its services this summer by growing two adult programs and introducing a program for children. “In response to community needs, we are enlarging two adult programs and introducing one for children,” said Deborah Goodman, CEO of Hospice of Midland. “The Pathways Palliative Care program, which supports patients with advanced illnesses, will be expanded,” Goodman said. ... The new program will be the Children’s Grief Center’s Holding Hope program. “Rays of Hope Children’s Grief Center has been here in Midland, serving the Permian Basin for 22 years,” Goodman said. “We’ve noticed, especially since COVID, a pretty substantial increase in deaths by suicide in younger individuals, especially the teen and young adult ages.” The Holding Hope program was designed for children and families affected by death by suicide.

Empath Health expands hospice support for Jewish communities 
Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 7/13/26 
Empath Trustbridge Hospice has established a formal partnership with Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Services (JFS) to expand access to end-of-life support. The partnership with JFS is aimed at improving access to culturally responsive care provided by Empath Trustbridge Hospice’s Tikvah Jewish Care & Support Program. The program provides faith-based support, honors Jewish traditions and holiday observances, as well as kosher dietary coordination. The two organizations launched the partnership after years of relationship-building and a mutual commitment to honoring the Jewish community through every stage of life. 

Most Americans prefer to die at home, but the US healthcare system often prevents it 
ArcaMax; by Karen Lutfey Spencer; 7/14/26 
Ask people what they want at the end of their lives, and overwhelmingly the answers will revolve around comfort, dignity and time at home with loved ones. Yet the U.S. healthcare system often thwarts these wishes. Most Americans say they want to die at home, but only one-third do. What could be an intentional last chapter may instead become a roller coaster of hospitalizations and decisions made with incomplete information. News headlines reflect the challenges of facing the end of life in crisis mode. ... Unfortunately, these crisis scenarios are happening to millions of families each year.

Medicare’s hospice bill doubled over the last decade 
U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO); WatchBlog Post; 7/14/26 
In recent years, Medicare’s spending on hospice has nearly doubled. We looked at this spending and found that the way Medicare pays for hospice care could be costing taxpayers billions more than it should. Today’s WatchBlog post looks at our new report about inefficiencies in Medicare's payments.

• What is causing increases in Medicare spending ...
• Medicare may have overspent by billions on hospice home care ...
• Hypothetical Examples of Payment per Visit for Low- and High-Visit Hospices ...
• Hospices received higher payments than under home health per visit rates. ...
• Average Per-Visit Payment and Home Health Rates for Low- and High-Visit Hospices, 2024 ...
• Large payments may attract fraudsters. ...

Family Hospice expands into Northwest Georgia through aquisition of North Georgia Community Hospice, LLC 
EIN Presswire, Dalton, GA; by Family Hospice, LLC; 7/14/26 
Family Hospice today announced the completion of its acquisition of North Georgia Community Hospice, LLC, expanding access to compassionate hospice and palliative care services throughout Northwest Georgia. The acquisition, which closed on July 14, 2026, marks an important milestone in Family Hospice's continued growth across Georgia and reflects the organization's long-term commitment to serving patients and families with compassionate, community-based care. Current patients will continue receiving uninterrupted hospice services throughout the transition, supported by the same experienced caregivers and staff who have faithfully served the community.

Why joint ventures may outpace M&A during the CMS home health enrollment moratorium 
Home Health Care News; by MK Manoylov; 7/14/26 
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) six-month moratorium on new Medicare home health enrollments limits one pathway for providers to scale, but operators can still expand organically and through M&A. Growth-minded operators can increase census, improve workforce availability, acquire other businesses and forge joint ventures, home health industry insiders said during a recent Home Health Care News webinar. Organic growth can mean improving conversion rates from referrals, expanding partnerships and developing operations, said Andwell Health Partners CEO Ken Albert.

Leveraging technology in hospice sales and marketing 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 7/14/26 
Technology is becoming increasingly important in hospice sales and marketing, but it can’t replace the human touch, according to provider leaders. One of the most proliferating sets of technologies sweeping the hospice space and many other industries right now is artificial intelligence (AI). While AI can be a tool to generate referral growth and streamline operations, building person-to-person relationships is more important, Craig Dresang, CEO of the nonprofit hospice provider YoloCares, said during a Hospice News webinar.  “Nothing will replace relationship management person to person. AI is a tool to be used. We use AI here in a number of ways,” Dresang told Hospice News. “There are a number of ways that AI can be used as a tool, but nothing will replace good old-fashioned people skills and relationship management skills.”

[United Kingdom] Development of the ‘Culturally Informed Ecological Model of Grief’ – a national qualitative study of bereavement experiences among ethnically diverse communities 
BMC Medicine; by Catriona R Mayland, Emily Fisher, Adejoke O Oluyase, Nikel-Shaniece Hector-Jack, Toslima Khatun, Rukia Saleem, Naureen Khan, Shirin Shahid, Riffat Mahmood, Gurpreet Grewal-Santini, Monika Afolabi, Candice Wang, Sarah Ng, Rashmi Kumar, Katherine Bristowe, Emily Harrop, Zoebia Islam, Jonathan Koffman, Gurch Randhawa, Lucy E Selman & Sabrina Bajwah; 7/14/26  
Background: Among people from ethnically diverse communities, evidence regarding bereavement experiences and support needs is limited; there are known inequities in access to formal bereavement support.
Conclusions: Racism was evident across multiple settings and closely intertwined with bereavement, compounding the emotional burden of grief. This study represents the largest qualitative investigation of bereavement among ethnically diverse communities in UK healthcare to date, providing a robust evidence base for improving equity in support. Bereavement services must prioritise cultural safety and actively address structural racism. The ‘Culturally Informed Ecological Model of Grief’ offers a new framework guiding more equitable bereavement support, relevant across national and international contexts.

Dublin business accuses fired CEO, CFO of embezzlement 
Columbus Business First, Columbus, OH; by Carrie Ghose; 7/13/26 
Dublin-based ViaQuest fired founder Rich Johnson and CFO Michael Bell, and in a lawsuit accuses them of diverting more than $15 million.  ... In January 2025, Johnson purchased ViaQuest Hospice LLC, through a $10 million promissory note that is still owing, according to the complaint. As sole owner and CEO of Hospice, Johnson was required to separate its finances when the deal closed, but ViaQuest kept paying Hospice expenses for a total of $12.9 million at Johnson and Bell's direction, the complaint said. ViaQuest employees including Bell also spent substantial time doing duties for Hospice, it said, an expense not yet calculated. [Access to the full article may be limited.]

Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. ~ Oprah Winfrey