Literature Review

[New Brunswick, Canada] Brothers who gave $50K for palliative care room at nursing home learn tough lessonCBC News; by Hannah Rudderham; 6/20/25Von Weiler family's gift in dad's memory taken apart and moved without notice... Brothers Alan and Glenn von Weiler of Saint John say they'll be more careful about future donations and ask more questions. The moment brothers Alan and Glenn von Weiler saw the palliative care room at their father's former nursing home — created in his memory — was one for the books, they say. "I think my dad would have been so happy," Glenn said. "My dad believed in giving back to the community. He did that all his life, and now he was able to do it posthumously." But just over a year after they saw the new palliative care room at the Fundy Nursing Home in Blacks Harbour, the brothers have a sour taste in their mouths. They learned from staff at the home that the room has been taken apart.Publisher's note: While this story occurred in Canada, it's an important reminder to honor donor wishes.

Post-acute clinicians to CMS: Providers need better tech infrastructure for value-based careHome Health Care News; by Joyce Famakinwa; 6/20/25The Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association (PALTmed) recently penned a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) advocating for the advancement and adoption of interoperable health information technology (health IT). PALTmed explained that the health care providers — especially post-acute and long-term care settings — are dealing with a worsening clinician shortage. It’s a pain point that greater access to health IT could help solve, according to the organization.

Leading PBMs face increasing scrutiny from statesHealthcare Brew; by Nicole Ortiz; 6/18/25Iowa is the latest to impose limits on how PBMs can operate in the state... It all started when Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law on April 16 saying any company that owns a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) would be prohibited from also owning or operating pharmacies in the state. That’s seemingly bad news for the Big 3 PBMs—Cigna Group’s Express Scripts, CVS’s Caremark, and UnitedHealth’s Optum Rx, which collectively control nearly 80% of the market—seeing as they all also operate pharmacy chains. Now the state of Iowa wants to get in on the action, with Governor Kim Reynolds signing a law on June 11 to change how PBMs operate in the state.

How palliative care can differentiate hospices in the marketplaceHospice News; by Jim Parker; 6/18/25Potential referral partners and investors often see palliative care as a value-add for a hospice, home health agency or other provider. Palliative programs are difficult to manage as a standalone business due to the lack of a robust reimbursement model. Most palliative care programs are reimbursed through fee-for-service Medicare, which only covers physician or nurse practitioner services and does not include the full range of interdisciplinary care. Some palliative care is also paid for through Medicare Advantage plans and Accountable Care Organizations (ACO), where care and payment models often vary. But in many cases, providers see those services as a loss leader or as a “feeder” for their hospice programs, Eugene Goldenberg, managing partner from the investment bank Edgemont Partners, said at the Hospice News Elevate conference in Orlando, Florida.

How do I adapt my leadership as my company grows?Harvard Business Review podcast; by Muriel Wilkins; 6/16/25She’s an entrepreneur who has led her company to a fair amount of success. After recently hitting a roadblock, she’s hired new talent and is looking to position her company for continued growth. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches her through how to adjust her leadership to keep pace with her growing business.

Mālama Ola earns top national honor for veteran hospice careMaui News; 6/18/25Mālama Ola Health Services, based on Oʻahu, has become the first hospice and palliative care organization in the state of Hawai‘i to earn Level 5 status from We Honor Veterans, the highest recognition awarded by the national program for veteran-centered end-of-life care. The designation places Mālama Ola among just 233 organizations—about 7% of over 3,300 participating nationwide—that have achieved Level 5. Only 41 of those also provide both hospice and palliative care services.

A pregnant brain-dead woman in Georgia was kept on life support. Experts say it raises ethical, legal questionsABC News; by Mary Kekatos; 6/19/25Adriana Smith, a brain-dead woman in Georgia, was kept on life support until her fetus was viable. Experts say it raises ethical and legal questions. Adriana Smith, a 31-year-old Georgia nurse and mother, was just eight weeks pregnant when she was declared brain dead in February after suffering a medical condition. However, the family claims the hospital told them legally she had to be kept on life support to allow the fetus to grow. The family claims doctors told them they were not legally allowed to consider other options, according to local Atlanta station 11Alive. Last week, Smith's baby was born by emergency Caesarean section, weighing under 2 pounds and needing care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), reported 11Alive.Publisher's note: This situation raises numerous ethical end-of-life questions - highlighting the importance of hospices having or connecting with local ethics experts.

There’s a workplace leadership crisis. Here’s how to solve itForbes; by William Arruda; 6/22/25We’re living in a very different world. Just since Covid, many of the norms of business have evolved, making the workplace almost unrecognizable. AI is taking over (or at least it feels that way). There are more different generations working side-by-side, each with their own needs, expectations, and styles. Hybrid and remote work are making life more manageable for some, while at the same time reducing the sense of connection and belonging that many of us get from work. And we haven’t even touched on the geopolitical events that are impacting virtually every industry and role. All of these changes are having a major impact on leadership. [Key points include:]

Night staff hailed for quick action when bear breaks into nursing homeMcKnight's Long-Term Care News; by James M. Berklan; 6/9/25While caregivers at St. Andrew’s Village are well-versed in typical protocols for tending to seniors, it’s their quick-thinking response to some alarming adolescent behavior that has earned them the admiration of peers and the outside world. Nurse aides and other staff on the overnight shift deftly blocked access to most patient rooms and helped steer a 118-pound black bear out of their unit late Tuesday night at their life plan community 50 miles east of Pittsburgh.

How you sit and rise predicts longevityMedscape, by Jake Remaly; 6/18/25You might want to sit down for this — then stand up as smoothly as you can. The ease with which a person can sit on the floor and rise to their feet, using as little support as possible, may help predict how long they will live. Adults who aced the so-called sitting-rising test were far less likely to die of natural or cardiovascular causes over about 12 years of follow-up than those who scored the lowest, according to a study published online on June 18 in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

Rewriting the narrative around death: My Death Plan’s mission to redefine legacyUSA Today; by Connie Etemadi; 6/22/25Death is one of the few certainties in life, yet it remains one of the most uncomfortable topics to discuss. The mere mention of it can feel morbid, taboo, or prematurely grim, something to be ignored until it’s looming. Dawn Norman, a seasoned attorney and the founder of My Death Plan, believes death shouldn’t be something to avoid, fear, or delay thinking about. It must be thoughtfully embraced as a natural part of life that deserves just as much attention as any other form of life planning.

NIH grant funding losses, by stateBecker's Hospital Review; by Mackenzie Bean; 6/19/25National Institutes of Health grant terminations have hit some states dramatically harder than others, with just three accounting for more than two-thirds of all rescinded funding this year, according to a June 17 report from Grant Watch... Massachusetts, New York and North Carolina absorbed more than 68% of these cuts, driven by significant funding losses at prominent research institutions such as Boston-based Harvard Medical School and Columbia University Health Sciences in New York City... Below is a state-by-state breakdown of NIH grant funding losses, offering a snapshot of where grant terminations are being felt the most.

AGG Talks: Home Health & Hospice Podcast SeriesArnall Golden Gregory LLP; Jason Bring and multiple guests; 6/25Our podcast series features AGG attorneys and guests discussing business opportunities and legal issues for our friends in the home health and hospice industries. [Topics include:]