Today is National Healthcare Decisions Day - Make your advance care plans 
Institute for Healthcare Improvement - The Conversation Project; retrieved from the internet 4/14/25
The links and resources [provided in this article] explore a variety of resources to help make, discuss and document future healthcare wishes and decisions in your advance care planning. ... The Conversation Project offers free tools, guidance, and resources to begin talking with those who matter most about your and their wishes.

• The Conversation Project's Conversation Guides ...
• State Specific Resources ... [Download and Complete Your State or Territories' Advance Directive Forms]

Editor's note: If you or other family and friends have not completed your Advance Directive, this site equips you with state-specific information and forms. Pair this with today's related posts ...

• Hospitalists in a bind when cancer prognosis hasn’t sunk in
• For AYAs with advanced cancer, study finds serious communication gaps about their care
• Today's Encouragement: I have an advance directive, not because ...

The power of film to change medical culture: A Q&A with a physician-filmmaker about her latest documentary 
MedPage Today; by Genevieve Friedman; 4/15/25
... We spoke with Jessica Zitter, MD, a critical care and palliative care physician in California, about shifting her career beyond clinical medicine and into the world of film-making. Zitter has produced three documentaries that use storytelling to inspire healthcare providers to connect to their work with purpose, community, and compassion, and in 2022, she founded the production company Reel Medicine Media. Her latest documentary, "The Chaplain & The Doctor," explores her relationship with Betty Clark, a chaplain on Zitter's palliative care team, and the value that can grow from an unlikely partnership.

Hospitalists in a bind when cancer prognosis hasn’t sunk in
Medscape; by Jake Remaly; 4/15/25 
When a patient with cancer is admitted to the hospital, the reason might not be related to the malignancy. But the hospitalist in charge sometimes becomes aware of a major disconnect: The patient, who they just met, does not grasp the severity of their cancer prognosis. On the one hand, the hospital medicine team and patient have advance directives and goals of care to consider, which may steer the course of the hospitalization and any use of hospice. The cancer prognosis — the patient might only have months to live, for example — could be a key component of those conversations. On the other hand, explaining the cancer situation should fall to the oncologist, right? ...
Editor's notes: Pair this with today's posts, 

• Today is National Healthcare Decisions Day - Make your advance care plans
• For AYAs with advanced cancer, study finds serious communication gaps about their care
• Today's Encouragement: I have an advance directive, not because ...

For AYAs with advanced cancer, study finds serious communication gaps about their care 
National Cancer Institute; by Daryl McGrath; 4/15/25 
Many adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with advanced cancer don’t have discussions with their clinicians about how they want to approach palliative care until the final weeks of life, a study of medical records of nearly 2,000 young patients showed. ... Talking about care and treatment near the end of life is one of the most challenging aspects of caring for AYAs with advanced cancer, said Ashley Wilder Smith, Ph.D., M.P.H., of NCI’s Healthcare Delivery Research Program and co-leader of NCI’s Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Working Group. ... “When a young person is faced with a disease that may lead to an early death, it’s vitally important to give them the opportunity to think about what’s most important to them and what happens to them in terms of care in the time they have left,” she said.
Editor's notes: Pair this with today's posts, 

• Today is National Healthcare Decisions Day - Make your advance care plans
• Hospitalists in a bind when cancer prognosis hasn’t sunk in
• Today's Encouragement: I have an advance directive, not because ...

CMS clarifies physician referral authority, tightens attestation requirements in proposed hospice rule
Inside Health Policy; by Jalen Brown; 4/11/25
... The proposed rule would explicitly allow the physician member of the hospice interdisciplinary group (IDG) to recommend patients for hospice care, addressing a gap in current regulations over which physicians have that authority. While CMS already lets IDG physicians certify that a patient is terminally ill and eligible for hospice, the existing admission rules only name the hospice medical director or physician designee as authorized to recommend admission. CMS also wants to strengthen documentation requirements for hospice recertification, ... Starting at day 180 and every 60 days thereafter, Medicare requires a hospice physician or nurse practitioner (NP) to conduct a face-to-face visit with the patient before recertifying eligibility. After the visit, the clinician must provide a written attestation confirming that the visit occurred and was used to assess whether the patient still qualifies for hospice care. Under CMS' proposal, that attestation would also need to include the clinician's signature and the date signed, submitted as a clearly labeled section or addendum to the recertification form. [The full article requires either a subscription or to sign up for 30 days free access.]

CMS halts spending for nonmedical in-home Medicaid services, likely affecting providers 
McKnights Home Care; by Adam Healy; 4/13/25 
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services told states last week that it would not approve future federal matching funds for designated state health programs (DSHPs) and designated state investment programs (DSIPs). These programs are widely used to help Medicaid beneficiaries remain at home and in their communities.

NABIP responds to HHS Proposed Rule on Marketplace Integrity 
National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals; by Kelly Lousedes; 4/14/25 
The National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals (NABIP) submitted formal comments to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed rule, CMS-9884-P: Marketplace Integrity and Affordability. While NABIP strongly supports efforts to enhance program integrity, it strongly objects to elements that could lead to unfair treatment of licensed health insurance professionals. ...

Attorney General Platkin co-leads multistate effort to protect Affordable Care Act from attack 
State of New Jersey - Department of Law & Public Safety, Trenton, NJ; Press Release by the Office of the Attorney General, Matthew J. Platkin; 4/14/25  
Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, along with the Attorneys General of California and Massachusetts, co-led a multistate letter regarding a raft of proposed changes that would undermine the Affordable Care Act (ACA), making it more difficult and expensive for individuals to enroll in health coverage on federal and state exchanges. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that would make a number of regulatory changes impacting access to insurance via the ACA. If allowed to take effect, the proposed changes would reduce access to ACA exchanges and risk causing between 750,000 and two million Americans to lose health insurance coverage in 2026. That would impose harms on States and their residents, both insured and uninsured, as when more individuals are forced to go without insurance, costs are driven up for everyone.

Where bills stand in the Nevada legislature in 2025: ... AB161 - Hospice Care 
Fox 5 - KU-TV, Las Vegas, NV; by FOX5 Staff; 4/14/25 
FOX5 gathered the most high-profile bills moving in the Nevada legislature this year. Here’s where they stand: ...

• AB161 - Hospice Care
• A bill overlooking hospice advanced out of committee. This bill would require hospice care programs to accept Medicare payments and provide greater oversight of hospice care programs during their first two years of being licensed.
• Hospice care programs would also need to provide annual reports on its programs. Earlier this month, FOX5 reported on complains from family members of patients in each local hospice care. Facilities are meant to provide specialized care for people as they reach the end of life.

PACE growth expected to continue amid HHS reorganization, provider uncertainty 
McKnights Long-Term Care News; by Zee Johnson; 4/15/25 
... Coordination for the PACE program is moving to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Center for Innovation, the National PACE Association said. That shake up, HHS officials have said, should make management of the PACE program more productive. The White House, however, is also seeking $800 million in budget cuts at CMMI. ... A white paper published in January by Health Dimensions Group showed 33 states and the District of Columbia had implemented 180 PACE programs, accounting for more than 79,000 enrollees. The 25 programs that were added in 2024 quadrupled the model’s average growth since 2005. 

The future of management is hybrid: Leading human-AI teams in a new era of work 
Holtz Communication + Technology; by Shel Holtz; 4/12/25 
... Consider healthcare, where an AI agent will draft post-visit follow-up patient care plans, schedule check-ins, send reminders, and flag unusual symptoms in post-visit surveys for review. The human nurse practitioner will review and personalize the follow-up plan, contact patients in need of emotional support or clarification, and make clinical decisions about concerns the AI has flagged. ... Healthcare managers will have to align clinical protocols with AI-generated outputs, ensure HIPAA compliance (in the U.S.), and train staff to interpret and override AI recommendations when necessary. ... With less busy work, managers should be able to to focus on those aspects of managing that require a human touch, shifting to leading and mentoring, employing soft skills over hard skills, as shown in this chart: [Management Task/Skill | AI-Agents - Strength | Human Managers - Strength]

AI in procurement: How different industries are harnessing its power 
Spend Matters; by Spend Matters Team; 4/15/25 
... Across industries, AI is capable of reshaping procurement, making it smarter, more predictive and highly efficient. In this article we will highlight some of the key changes AI has made to procurement strategies in the following industries: manufacturing and industrials, life sciences and healthcare, and the public sector.

• Manufacturing and industrials: Strengthening the supply chain backbone ...
• Life sciences and healthcare: Enhancing supply chain visibility and compliance ...
• Public sector: Navigating regulations and mitigating risk ...
• The future of AI in procurement: Smarter, faster, more strategic ...

Tennessee physician sentenced for $41M fraud scheme 
Becker's ASC Review; by Patsy Newitt; 4/15/25
An Ashland City, Tenn.-based physician was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in a $41 million healthcare fraud scheme, according to an April 14 news release from the Justice Department.  What happened? 

• Between June 2016 and April 2019, John Manning, MD, signed orders and prescriptions that led to the submission of more than $41 million in false claims to Medicare. The program paid over $19 million of those claims. ...
• In addition to the prison term, Dr. Manning was ordered to pay $19.8 million in restitution to Medicare and a forfeiture judgment of $812,303.41.

The modern health care professional: How to combine skills from different fields to redefine your career 
MedPage Today's KevinMD.com; by Jalene Jacob, MD, MBA; 4/11/25 
Gone are the days when careers followed linear paths and job titles neatly fit into predefined boxes. Today’s health care industry celebrates versatility, and hybrid professionals are redefining what it means to succeed. A hybrid health care professional combines skills and expertise from different fields, blending knowledge to create unique value in the health care space. Whether you’re a nurse with coding skills, a doctor with a passion for data analysis and research, or a biomedical engineer with a talent for design and business, hybridization is becoming the new competitive advantage. This article explores how early professionals can harness their diverse interests and talents to shape their careers and stand out in a rapidly evolving job market.

I have an advance directive, not because I have a serious illness, but because I have a family. ~ Ira Byock, MD

Editor's notes: Pair this with today's related posts ... 

• Today is National Healthcare Decisions Day - Make your advance care plans
• Hospitalists in a bind when cancer prognosis hasn’t sunk in
• For AYAs with advanced cancer, study finds serious communication gaps about their care