Literature Review

CMS telehealth waivers, virtual hospice re-certification, expire Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 10/1/25 The regulatory flexibilities related to telehealth that the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic have expired. This includes the ability of hospices to perform patient re-certification face-to-face encounters via telehealth. Also expiring are waivers that expanded the scope of practitioners eligible to provide telehealth services, as well as flexibilities that removed geographic requirements and expanded originating sites for telehealth services, including or federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics. The government’s failure to extend or make permanent the telehealth re-certification waiver is a “grave mistake,” according to Tom Koutsoumpus, CEO of the National Partnership for Healthcare & Hospice Innovation (NPHI).

Report sounds alarm about private equity’s growing involvement in PACE McKnights Home Care; by Adam Healy; 9/24/25 The Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), a program funded by Medicare and Medicaid, is an increasingly attractive target for private equity investors. This may be a cause for concern, according to a new report by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project. “Private equity sees PACE as a guaranteed revenue stream, not a care model,” Michael Fenne, report author and PESP’s senior healthcare research coordinator, told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse Wednesday in an email. “The result is that PACE, once a nonprofit-driven model focused on keeping seniors healthy at home, is increasingly being treated as a financial opportunity for investors.”

Confidential conversations in palliative care: An ethnographic exploration of trust and interpersonal relationship between nurse and patient Journal of Clinical Nursing; by Tove Stenman, Bodil Holmberg, Ylva Rönngren, Ulla Näppä, Christina Melin Johansson; 9/30/25 Confidential conversations in palliative care are grounded in fragile, dynamic trust, necessitating ongoing presence, sensitivity and adaptability from RN. To support these interactions, healthcare environments must prioritise privacy, relational continuity and communication training. Future research should investigate how organisational structures and clinical settings influence confidential conversations. ... Healthcare environments should facilitate confidential conversations by ensuring relational continuity and minimising distractions. Communication training that emphasises presence and management of silence can strengthen nurse–patient relationships, enhancing patient care and emotional support.

[Portugal] End-of-life care in the prison environment (supplement #22) ehospice, republished from by Portual Plus; 9/25/25 “Inmates who are dependent on assistance have a significant need for help from fellow prisoners,” stated Manuel Almeida dos Santos, secretary-general of the Obra Vicentina de Auxílio aos Reclusos (OVAR) [i.e., St. Vincent de Paul Work to Aid Prisoners], citing the lack of nursing aides and other professionals within prisons. “The shortage of human resources is not limited to prison guards. The deficiencies in prisons are even greater in other areas,” he argued. This concern was echoed by Vítor Ilharco, president of the Associação Portuguesa de Apoio ao Recluso [i.e., Portuguese Association for Prisoner Support], who mentioned cases of sick or elderly inmates who are bedridden, with their families paying “fixed amounts” to other inmates for assistance. Editor's Note: Log in to your newsletter account, type "prison" in the "Search" field, and compare this with many articles we've published on this topic; notably, "IL law calls for annual report on prison hospice, palliative care" and "Death and redemption in an American prison."

Nevada hospice provider launches first-of-its-kind palliative care in Las Vegas education program ABNewswire; by Summerlin Hospice and Palliative Care; 9/29/25 Summerlin Hospice and Palliative Care has announced the launch of an innovative educational initiative designed to increase awareness and understanding of specialized comfort care services throughout Nevada. ... Summerlin Hospice and Palliative Care has developed partnerships with local medical centers, healthcare providers, and community organizations to maximize the program’s reach and effectiveness. These collaborations ensure that educational resources reach diverse populations throughout the Las Vegas Valley and surrounding Nevada communities.

End-of-life outcomes and staff visits for hospice recipients residing in assisted living Journal of the American Medical Directors Association; by Wenhan Guo, Shubing Cai, Yue Li, Brian E McGarry, Thomas V Caprio, Helena Temkin-Greener; 9/26/25 Objectives: ... We hypothesized that more frequent staff visits and specific regulatory provisions would be associated with improved EOL outcomes. ... Conclusions and implications: Hospice staffing intensity, especially clinical visits, appears to be associated with EOL outcomes for AL residents. AL state regulations are also associated with hospice quality. These findings underscore the role of both organizational practices and regulatory policy in shaping hospice experiences in AL settings.

October is a symphony of permanence and change. ~ Bonaro W. Overstreet

Rise in late-stage lung cancer in nonsmokers highlights need for awareness and screening Medscape Medical News; by Evra Taylor; 9/5/25 ... The common thinking is that lung cancer is a smoker’s disease, but that isn’t the full picture, Jessica Moffatt, PhD, vice president of programs and health system partnerships at Lung Health Foundation in Toronto, told Medscape Medical News. ... Moffatt and her colleagues are working to dispel the stigma that smokers “get what they deserve.” Rosalyn Juergens, MD, professor of oncology at McMaster University in Guelph, Ontario, and president of Lung Cancer Canada, said, “If you find out someone has lung cancer, your first question shouldn’t be ‘Did you smoke?’ It should be ‘What can I do to help you along this journey?’ ” 

Danbury hospice gets $2 million to expand care for children with life-limiting illnesses Shelton Herald, Bridgeport, CT; by Cris Villalonga-Vivoni; 9/30/25 A Danbury-based nonprofit hospice center is receiving $2 million in state funding to expand its pediatric care services and help more families access specialized end-of-life care. Founded in 1983, Regional Hospice and Home Care of Western Connecticut is the only nonprofit hospice in the state providing hospice care to children under 21 with life-threatening conditions. However, its capacity remains limited amid rising demand. In 2020, there were an estimated 7,800 children in Connecticut with complex medical conditions that limit their life expectancy and could benefit from palliative and hospice care, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health.

6 Coloradans took to the Colorado River to grieve. What they found was a way to feel less alone. The Colorado Sun, Loma, CO; by Shannon Mullane; 9/28/25 Losing a loved one leaves people reeling. It forces the body to reconfigure deep bonds and impacts health. One Colorado River retreat aims to help people navigate. ... One by one, the members — all Colorado residents who ranged in age from their 40s to their 70s — shared their stories of death and grief. It was the start of a grief therapy retreat on the Colorado River, and the clients and crew members on the trip had lost parents, children and life partners. This moment was what they came for: a chance to open up space in their day-to-day lives to grieve. With other people who know what it’s like. Without having to act like they were holding it together. ... In their seven years of operation, Podmore and Pathfinders have offered about 20 grief retreats on the Colorado River for over 160 clients of all ages — including everyone from children to seniors — mostly from the Roaring Fork Valley in western Colorado. 

The question should be, is it worth trying to do, not can it be done. ~ Allard Lowenstein

10 top areas for growth, per health system CEOs and CFOs Becker's Hospital Review; by Laura Dyrda; 9/25/25 As healthcare continues to face financial pressures, workforce shortages, and rising patient expectations, health system executives are reimagining their strategies for growth. In a series of connections with C-suite leaders across the country, 10 themes surfaced again and again ... Here are the 10 most frequently cited growth areas, and how they shape the future of healthcare.

Long COVID hitting doctors and nurses hard Medscape; by David Brzostowkicki; 9/3/25 Jeffrey Siegelman, MD, contracted COVID-19 in August 2020 and, 3 months later, published a paper online in JAMA about his experiences. Today, he’s still dealing with the symptoms, as one of many healthcare providers who have long COVID. He said his experience highlights the impact of long COVID on hundreds of thousands of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers, by some estimates, who have been on the frontlines fighting the pandemic from the beginning. “I reflect on that paper from JAMA, and I thought that 3 months was a long time,” said Siegelman, associate professor of emergency medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine and a practicing emergency room doctor in Atlanta. “And here I am, 5 years later, and I still have symptoms. I think that’s the case for a lot of patients with long COVID, that it just keeps getting longer.”