What’s broken in American healthcare—and how to fix it | part two 
Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast by Chris Comeaux with Dr. Don Berwick; 7/10/26 
What if the greatest problem in American healthcare isn’t a lack of innovation—but a system that rewards complexity, profits, and bureaucracy over people? In Part Two of this powerful conversation, nationally respected healthcare leader and former CMS Administrator Dr. Don Berwick joins host Chris Comeaux to examine why healthcare costs continue to soar while patient outcomes lag behind many other developed nations—and what it will take to reverse course. ... Dr. Berwick explains how payment models, policy decisions, employer-sponsored insurance, and political forces have contributed to today’s healthcare challenges, while offering thoughtful, evidence-based ideas for building a system that delivers better care at a lower cost.

Guthrie golf tourney raises over $50K for hospice care 
The Daily Review, Sayre, PA; by Matt Freeze; 7/10/26 |
Guthrie’s 24th annual golf tournament last month raised over $50,000 to support Guthrie Hospice and the compassionate care provided to patients and families throughout the region, organizers said. The Golf for Guthrie Hospice tournament was held June 26 at The Club at Shepard Hills in Waverly. ... “For almost a quarter-century, our community has shown up for this great day on the greens to support a wonderful and powerful mission,” Executive Director of Guthrie Resource Development Tricia Houston said. “This event is about compassion and helping families during life’s most difficult times.”

Arden Home Health and Hospice celebrates Grand Opening of Vicksburg branch 
Vicksburg Daily News (VDN), Vicksburg, MS; Press Release; 7/10/26 
Arden Home Health and Hospice held a ribbon-cutting and open house to mark the grand opening of its new Vicksburg hospice branch at 1650 US 61, Suite D. The new branch expands Arden’s established home health presence in Vicksburg, adding hospice services for patients and families in Claiborne, Jefferson, Warren, Yazoo, Holmes, Humphreys, Sharkey, and Issaquena counties. ... Prior to this expansion, families in these communities were forced to travel significant distances for advanced hospice care.

Allied Services, Patriots Cove partnering to support vets, first responders 
The Times-Tribune, Scranton, PA; by Robert Tomkavage; 7/10/26 
A partnership between Allied Services Hospice & Palliative Care and Patriots Cove will support the physical, emotional and compassionate care needs of veterans, first responders and caregivers. Laura Marion, RN, BSN, vice president of Allied’s hospice and palliative programs, called the collaboration “a perfect fit” to bring more services to local veterans through Patriots Cove’s Last Best Day program. ... Jeff Swire, president of Patriots Cove in Wyoming County, believes the collaboration will produce quality results for the community. “It’s twofold,” he said. “Allied works with veterans and first responders coming out of either the VA or the hospital for rehab and they have the insight. They know the individual’s conditions so they can do a direct referral to us. Not every veteran and every first responder wants to hunt, fish or do outdoor activities, but we want to make sure we’re an asset to them.”

CMS proposed rule: understanding palliative care in home health 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 7/10/26 
While recent actions by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) could incrementally move the needle on palliative care access, they could also come with many limitations. CMS in its proposed 2027 home health rule clarified that home health providers can use certain billing codes to provide community-based palliative care to eligible patients. The agency emphasized that this palliative care would be distinct from hospice. Stakeholders in the hospice community were quick to applaud the proposal. ... However, what CMS has done falls short of a community-based palliative care benefit. For one, patients must meet the eligibility requirements for home health. This means that, among other requirements, patients must be homebound to receive this care, according to Katy Barnett, director of hospice and home health operations and policy for LeadingAge. This excludes many patients who may benefit from palliative care.

HMN 2026: How Kids should be involved in their health care. Here’s how to make that happen 
Health Medicine Network; by HealthMedicinet; 7/9/26 
Children have a right to learn, play and grow. To help children thrive, parents and health care professionals must ensure they get the medical support they need. However, existing evidence shows we could involve children more in their health care appointments. Research suggests children who actively participate in their own treatment recover faster from surgery, have less anxiety and feel more valued. Our new study examines what practices may help children be involved in health care appointments. So what are they? And how can we implement them?

Relationships between advance care planning engagement, patients’ religious practices, and spirituality 
American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Robyn M. Axel-Adams, MS, MDiv, BCC, HEC-C, Emily Fox Ludden, MDiv, MGS, and Alexia M. Torke, MD; 7/2/26
Background: Research has shown that people who consider themselves religious have a lower advance directive (AD) completion rate. However, advance care planning (ACP) includes a broader range of activities that are important in determining medical treatments. ... Conclusions: In contrast to prior findings of lower AD completion in more religious individuals, this study found that higher religiosity and spirituality are associated with higher ACP engagement. These results suggest ACP opportunities offered for religious congregations or spirituality focused communities may be especially successful.

A new way to prepare doctors for difficult conversations 
University of Rochester; by Bob Marcotte; 7/10/26 
[This post was originally published on July 15, 2021. It has been updated and republished to include a video about using SOPHIE for dentist-patient communication training.] As many as 68 percent of late-stage cancer patients leave their doctor’s offices either underestimating the severity of their disease, overestimating their life expectancy—or both. These misunderstandings can hinder the ability of patients and their families to make realistic decisions about whether to continue aggressive treatments or instead turn to palliative care. To address the problem, University of Rochester computer scientists, palliative care specialists, and practicing oncologists are perfecting SOPHIE (Standardized Online Patient for Healthcare Interaction Education)—an online virtual “patient” that helps physicians practice how to communicate effectively with late-stage cancer patients about their disease.

Civility requires the willingness to engage – a dispute with a neighbor revealed how much motivation matters 
The Conversation; by Deborah Mower, Center for Practical Ethics; 7/2/26 
... Civility research matters for ethics education across every discipline, especially fields such as law or medicine where contentious political and moral disagreements are likely to arise. Consider, for instance, the tense conversations between healthcare professionals who disagree about whether the best course of treatment for a patient is to turn to hospice services. Civility has a role to play in the workplace, too, where people need to navigate disagreements with colleagues and also between potentially conflicting professional and legal obligations, client expectations and ethical beliefs. ... Civility isn’t the absence of disagreement, heated disagreement or even outright anger, but continued engagement in the face of and despite such emotion.

Hospice should offer dignity, not deception | Your turn 
VC Star, Ventura County, CA; by Molly Corbett; 7/11/26 
Not long ago, a Ventura County family called Livingston for help. Their loved one was enrolled with another hospice but had not received a visit from one of its nurses in more than three weeks. Consider what those weeks must have felt like. The family had made one of the most difficult decisions it would ever face. Instead of focusing on their loved one, they were left wondering when help would come and whether anyone was paying attention. That’s the human cost of hospice fraud and neglect. It’s not only money improperly billed to Medicare. It’s pain that may go unmanaged, calls that go unanswered and precious time consumed by fear and frustration.

US lawmakers urge stricter monitoring of medically assisted suicide in hospices 
The Guardian | US healthcare; by Coral Murphy Marcos; 7/9/26 
Lawmakers urged the health and human services (HHS) secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, on Thursday to establish strict hospice reporting rules to prevent discrimination and coercion in medically assisted suicide. The bipartisan group of members of Congress warned that older adults, people with disabilities, or those with disaffected caregivers face a particular risk of being pressured to end their lives. “Every person has inherent worth and dignity, including those facing their final days,” said the Republican senator James Lankford in a statement. ... Lankford, as well as the Democratic senator Tim Kaine, Republican representative Greg Murphy and Jose Luis Correa, a Democratic representative, signed a joint letter asking HHS and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to monitor the practice.

Bloom where you’re planted, even on a Monday in July.