Literature Review

WTWH Media rebrands as Arrowfly, unifying 40+ brands under a new identity built for the future of B2BHospice News press release; 7/13/26WTWH Media ("WTWH"), an award-winning B2B media and marketing company, today announced it has rebranded as Arrowfly. The new name and identity reflect the company's transformation from a specialized trade publisher into an omnichannel B2B media, events, and marketing company where hard-to-reach professional decision-makers gather for trusted journalism, industry intelligence, and high-impact experiences that move their markets forward.Publisher's note: Kelly Tkac of Hospice News, Palliative Care News, Home Health Care News, etc., shared this exciting update with us at the Alliance's Finance and Technology Conference this week in Boston.

Nurse practitioner: my patient qualified for hospice. I couldn’t get her there The Examiner News; by Diane Pagan; 7/15/26 ... I’ve been Marie’s primary care nurse practitioner for seventeen months. She was referred to me at the time by her PCP because she could no longer physically manage going into the office. She suffered from dementia and her gait was worsening ... Marie’s daughter chose a hospice agency close to her home. The agency reviewed my referral and notes and accepted Marie into their program. The next step was to send them a Certificate of Terminal Illness (CTI) stating that Marie had a terminal illness with an anticipated life expectancy of 6 months or less. Then the obstacle arose. I couldn’t sign the form. ... The inability of nurse practitioners to sign a CTI does not stem from their lack of education or clinical expertise in determining when a patient is nearing end of life. The restriction is rooted in federal Medicare law, written more than 40 years ago, when the role of nurse practitioners was very different than it is today.

An empty beach is the perfect place to both fill and empty the mind! ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan

5 top execs to depart Enhabit in wake of Kinderhook Acquisition Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 7/16/26 Five of Enhabit Inc.’s six top executive leaders are departing two months after the company’s acquisition by Kinderhook Industries. Newly appointed CEO Dale Clift will remain. Enhabit confirmed to Hospice News’ sister publication Home Health Care News that five leaders are set to depart in the coming weeks. The leaders include CFO Ryan Solomon, Executive Vice President of Home Health Julie Jolley, Executive Vice President of Hospice Jeanna Kalvaitis, Chief Human Resources Officer Tanya Marion and General Counsel and Secretary Dylan Black.

French MPs approve assisted dying law with strict rules after years of argument BBC; by Paul Kirby; 7/15/26 France's National Assembly has voted to create a right to assisted dying under strict conditions, after years of debate and changes to the proposals. MPs voted by 291 to 241 to back the bill, which had been rejected three times by the upper house of parliament, the Senate. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is set to refer parts of the bill to France's Constitutional Council for examination before it can become law. It would allow assisted dying for French adults with a "serious and incurable" life-threatening illness "in an advanced or terminal stage". The illness would need to leave them in constant physical or psychological suffering that is unbearable or resistant to treatment. [Read more terms] ... Wednesday's vote means France could join several other European countries that have decriminalised assisted dying in some form. A similarly lengthy debate has been taking place in the UK. A bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales stalled earlier this year and is set to return to Parliament in September.

Meet the pair traveling Route 66 to encourage blood donation amid shortage The Oklahoman; by Carla Hinton; 7/14/26 As part of their 'Miles For Kindness' movement, two women are traveling Route 66 to encourage people to donate blood. Two women whose lives have been affected by blood donation are traveling miles from home in a colorful decommissioned ambulance to raise awareness about the nation's blood supply shortage. Marie Forrestal and Lori Talbot left their homes in Cranford, New Jersey, about a week ago to travel Route 66 to share their "Miles of Kindness" message. The pair stopped in Oklahoma City on Monday to host a blood drive at the Drybar salon at Classen Curve, in partnership with Our Blood Institute. The two sat in lawn chairs near their ambulance while visiting with customers and others who dropped by. 

Calendar Year (CY) 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule CMS Newsroom; Fact Sheet; 7/14/26 paired with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CMS CY 2027 Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule, 7/16/26; summary by guest editor Judi Lund Person On July 14, 2026, the Federal Register posted the CY 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule – CMS-1848-P. The CMS Fact Sheet on the proposed rule can be found here. While the proposed rule is 1,592 pages, there are two items of note to hospice and palliative care readers: 1) Supporting Beneficiaries Planning for Future Medical Decisions.CMS is proposing to create two new HCPCS codes to describe advance care planning (ACP) services furnished by clinical staff under the direct supervision of the billing physician or other practitioner. These new codes will more accurately distinguish and value the work done by billing practitioners from time spent by their clinical staff providing ACP services. We are further proposing that the existing ACP CPT codes 99497 and 99498 would only be used to report time personally spent by the billing practitioner. 2) RFI on Community-based Palliative Care, asking questions on eligibility for serious illness care and palliative care, the future of care management services and advanced primary care management.   

Center for Hospice Care and VNA Hospice NWI announce strategic affiliation to strengthen hospice care in Northwest Indiana GreatNews.Life; by VNA Hospice NWI & Center for Hospice Care; 7/14/26 Center for Hospice Care (CHC) and Visiting Nurse Association Hospice of Northwest Indiana (VNA Hospice NWI) today announced a legally binding strategic affiliation that will strengthen access to high-quality, compassionate hospice care across much of northern Indiana. This affiliation reflects a shared mission between CHC and VNA Hospice NWI to provide compassionate, skilled care focused on comfort and quality of living for those facing a serious, advanced illness. The integration process will allow patients to transition seamlessly within a unified nonprofit care network, ensuring continuity of care without disruption.

Japan pushes to expand children’s hospices through new consultation service Europe Says, Osaka, Japan; Press Release; 7/15/26 For children with life-limiting illnesses or severe disabilities, even simple experiences such as playing freely or having friends stay overnight can be difficult. Children’s hospices aim to make such experiences possible while also providing support for their families, and efforts are underway to expand the number of these facilities in Japan. Tsurumi Children’s Hospice in Osaka, which opened in 2016, launched a consultation service in April to help people establish similar facilities across the country.

Hospice compliance in the data driven era | a leadership advisory on enforcement risk and governance readiness JD Supra; by Ankura; 7/9/26 Hospice enforcement has entered a structurally different phase. Oversight is no longer episodic or complaint‑driven; it is continuous, data‑driven, and predictive. Federal agencies increasingly identify risk through utilization analytics — length of stay, live discharges, diagnosis mix, and level‑of‑care patterns — before auditors ever review records. By the time a hospice receives an audit or payment action, the organization has often already been characterized as an outlier. ... From a leadership perspective, the most consequential insight is how eligibility is evaluated. Regulators assess hospice eligibility longitudinally, across the entire patient stay — not at isolated certification points. ...

Why most healthcare brand strategies fail the first time leadership gets tested MedCityNews; by Erin Gregory; 7/10/26 If you are sitting on a brand strategy right now, the test is not whether your team likes it. The test is whether it can be defended by someone who did not build it, to a board that did not commission it, by a leader who did not hire you. A few years ago, I watched a regional nonprofit in community health and wellness come close to imploding. ...

Savings in Medicare hospice payments for care provided in nursing homes U.S. HHS-OIG; Project Number OEI-02-26-00180; 7/15/26 The fixed daily rates that Medicare pays hospices for routine home care provided in a nursing home include personal care services.  However, nursing homes are already required to provide personal care services to their residents.  Paying the hospice the full routine home care rate that covers personal care services when these services are already required from the nursing home can undermine the efficiency of Medicare payments and add to the incentives that bad actors have to exploit the program.  This review will determine Medicare payments for routine home care provided to hospice beneficiaries in nursing homes, estimate potential cost savings from reducing the payment to address the inefficiency in the payment structure, and examine practices of hospices with a high percentage of their beneficiaries in nursing homes.

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