Literature Review

Hospice of Marion County holds monthly Memory Cafes Marion Citizen; by Diane Renyhart; 7/30/25 ...  It is estimated that 15,000 Marion County residents are struggling with some form of dementia. There are over 600 Memory Cafes around the country, and we are fortunate to have one here in Ocala as part of the Dementia Education Program at Hospice of Marion County. The Memory Cafes are held the second Friday of each month at the Empath Health Hospice Elliot Center and feature special themes. The meeting room is decorated and the tables have centerpieces that often include balloons. ... Every meeting features special activities each month. The local Memory Café has partnered with Arts and Health Ocala Metro.

CMS drops 3 final payment rules for 2026: 15 things to know  Becker's Hospital Review; by Alan Condon; 8/4/25 CMS has released three final payment rules with various updates for inpatient rehabilitation facilities, hospices and inpatient psychiatric facilities for fiscal year 2026. ...

After losing his wife, 92-year-old man turns grief into comfort for other Spectrum News 1 - Greece, NY; by Seth Voorhees; 8/4/25 The loss of a spouse can be devastating. A Rochester area man is turning his personal grief into comfort for others. The gesture has special meaning for families of people in hospice care. Howard Jones has always dabbled in art. At 92, the Kodak retiree has made painting his full-time job. ... [His wife through 68 years,] Estella spent her final weeks at Hildebrandt Hospice Care Center, where staff noticed Howard Jones would pass the time by painting rocks. Someone told him the story of the cardinal, and how some believe their appearance is a sign that a departed loved one is near.  ... [Now, he paints] “every day, eight hours a day,” said Jones. ... “It’s all a matter of getting the bird to look right,” he said. ... “My hope is always that when someone takes one of the stones out of the basket, they can feel the emotion that went into painting it,” said Jones. Since he began keeping track in February, Howard Jones says he’s painted over 500 cardinals. “And that's kept me going,” he said.Editor's Note: This demonstrates beautifully the "instrumental style of grieving" (identified by Ken Doka and Terry Martin in Grieving Beyond Gender) where men (and women) tend to grieve through actively doing something, in contrast to verbal and emotional expression. We described this more in our post, To Be or To Do? Women and Men's different styles of grieving.

Hospice Honors 2025 - 2025 CAHPS Honors and Honors Elite Award winnersMatrixCare by ResMed; retrieved from the internet 7/29/25 214 CAHPS Honors and 53 Elite Award Winners are listed. These national recognitions are presented by HealthCare First, a part of MatrixCare. These awards are based on satisfaction scores from the Hospice Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey. "Honors Elite" status is awarded to those hospices that score above the national performance score on 100%, or all twenty four, of the evaluated questions. Editor's Note: We celebrate these significant achievements and thank you for the quality, expert care you provide each day! 

New job posting this week!

Assisted living fire with multiple fatalities a reminder to have evacuation plan, expert says McKnights Senior Living; by Kimberly Bonvissuto; 7/15/25 A five-alarm fire at a Massachusetts assisted living community in which nine people died and at least 30 were injured is a “realistic reminder” for senior living providers to make sure they have evacuation plans that are practiced and up to date, according to one expert. Stan Szpytek, president of Fire and Life Safety Inc. and a former deputy fire chief and fire marshal, told McKnight’s Senior Living that he was “horrified” to see the death toll, adding that multiple fatalities in buildings equipped with properly working fire suppression systems “has never occurred,” according to statistics from the National Fire Protection Association. ... “Smoke kills more people than fire does everyday in America,” Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon said during a press conference.

Live today. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Just today. Inhabit your moments. Don’t rent them out to tomorrow. ~ Jerry Spinelli

Bipartisan bill offers ‘meaningful’ immigration reform that could help address senior living workforce needs, leaders say McKnights Senior Living; by Kimberly Bonvissuto; 7/1/25 A bipartisan immigration reform bill proposing a pathway to legal resident status for certain undocumented immigrants — including direct care workers — is earning the support of the senior living and care industry. The recently re-introduced Dignity Act of 2025 “offers the solution to our immigration crisis: secure the border, stop illegal immigration and provide an earned opportunity for long-term immigrants to stay here and work,” sponsor Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) had said in introducing the bill. [Its co-sponsor is] Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX).

How proposed home health cuts could impact hospices  Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 8/1/25Proposed cuts to home health payments for 2026 could have somewhat of a ripple effect on hospices. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has called for a 6.4% aggregate cut to home health payments for 2026 in a proposed rule. The total reductions amount to $1.135 billion. This is the fourth straight year in which CMS has cut or proposed to cut home health payments. Due to this proposed rule, the agency has “failed” providers, according to Dr. Steven Landers, CEO for the National Alliance for Care at Home.

Laying the foundation for health IT innovation: 5 essential cornerstones Becker's Health IT; by Pally Parrent; 8/1/25 ... A recent survey by Modern Healthcare and Nordic reveals both industry progress and opportunity across critical IT foundations like governance, infrastructure, data, and training. Investing in these foundations is important but success also requires five reinforcing cornerstones that support foundational efforts for enterprise-wide impact: strategy, cybersecurity, integration and interoperability, cultural commitment, and change management. ...

A hospice volunteer has a fascinating new take on people's most common deathbed regret Upworthy; by Cecily Knobler; 8/1/25 ... Over the years, many hospital and hospice workers have paid close attention to what people who are on their deathbeds say. What they're most proud of, and yes, what are their main regrets. ... [This author refers to] Jancee Dunn's New York Times article, "3 Lessons for Living Well, from the Dying." In it, she discusses her friend who is a hospice volunteer. "She hears one regret over and over from patients: letting relationships wither. They wish that they had made more plans with good friends, or they thought about getting back in touch with an old buddy, and talked themselves out of it." ...  One wrote,"My mother always told me, 'Your friends will get you through life.'"Editor's Note: What friend do you want to reach out to, today? 

Hospice of Humboldt expands services Redwood News, Eureka, CA; 7/31/25 ... Through a fundraising effort called the Compassionate Growth Campaign, Hospice of Humboldt was able to raise $750,000, enough to recruit another team of caregivers and double the capacity of the hospice house. “It was a heavy lift for our organization. We recruited and trained an additional 19 staff members,” Keating said. Doctor Charles Knoll, the medical director on campus, walks families through the process. 

HHS sets its sights on $50b in cost savings: Medicare payments to nonhospice providers potentially under fire JD Supra; by Taylor Henderson, Callan Stein, Rebecca Younker; 7/31/25 In May 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a review, titled " Potential Cost Savings HHS Programs – HHS Actions," which provided some insight into the OIG's direction to accomplish the Trump administration's stated goal of cutting federal spending. This review spans 35 reports, adding up to $50 billion in potential cost savings — including a reported $6.6 billion in potential savings by preventing Medicare payments for nonhospice items or services furnished to active hospice beneficiaries (nonhospice payments). When a beneficiary qualifies for and elects hospice benefits, the beneficiary signs a statement choosing hospice care over other Medicare-covered treatments for their terminal illness, and the hospice provider is paid a daily, per diem rate to provide these comprehensive services. With nonhospice payments accounting for a significant portion of HHS's potential savings, providers across the health care industry — including nursing and long-term care facilities, hospice and home health agencies, hospitals, individual providers, pharmacies, and medical equipment distributors — will need to be ready for the OIG's possible next steps.