Literature Review

[Global] Top designs revealed in buildner’s Fourth Annual Hospice – Home for the Terminally Ill competition ArchDaily; 10/13/25 Buildner has announced the results of its fourth annual Hospice - Home for the Terminally Ill international architecture ideas competition. This global call for ideas continues to explore how architecture can support end-of-life care with empathy, dignity, and contextual sensitivity. The competition invited architects and designers to move beyond clinical requirements and envision spaces that offer emotional warmth, social connection, and a profound sense of place. ... An international jury reviewed the submissions for their design clarity, emotional resonance, and architectural depth. 

CFO tenures at the 10 largest health systems Becker's Hospital Review; by Andrew Cass; 10/9/25 Healthcare CFOs’ tenures last an average of 4.7 years, according to a September report from Crist Kolder Associates. Here are the tenures of the CFOs at the 10 largest health systems in the U.S. (Health system size is determined by the number of hospitals, based on organizational data as of December.)

Hospice Research Information 10/11/25

How wonderful it is that nobody needs wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ~Anne Frank

Perinatal bereavement rooms: A narrative review of physical space in perinatal griefArchives of Gynecology and Obstetrics; by Ruby Castilla-Puentes, Azul F. Isidoro, Alfonsina Orosito, Samantha Eaton, Manuela Goyeneche, Liliana González Cabrales, Gabriela Santaella; 9/25 Perinatal loss is a profoundly complex form of grief, often linked to heightened risk of prolonged bereavement and adverse mental health outcomes. Perinatal grief rooms—private, supportive spaces within healthcare settings—aim to help families process their loss, spend time with their baby, and create meaningful memories in a respectful environment. Despite increasing recognition of the importance of bereavement care, dedicated grief rooms remain under-researched and inconsistently implemented. Advancing this field will require rigorously designed studies, development of design standards, and collaborative partnerships among healthcare providers, researchers, policymakers, and design experts to ensure equitable access to therapeutic spaces for grieving families.Assistant Editor's note: It strikes me that those experiencing grief of any kind, not just perinatal grief, could benefit from a grief room--a private, comfortable, inviting space--where loved ones can be together and grieve. Many hospice in-patient facilities have such a room. Wouldn't it be wonderful if every hospital, nursing home, assisted living facility, etc., had a grief room?! Perhaps hospice organizations could explore a multi-facility collaboration to make that happen. 

Pulse check: Status update on pediatric palliative and hospice community-based coverageJournal of Palliative Medicine; by Meaghann S Weaver, Alix Ware, Deborah Fisher, Betsy Hawley, Holly Davis, Lisa C Lindley, Steven M Smith, Conrad S P Williams, Tej Chana, Christy Torkildson; 9/25Half (49%) of [the country's surveyed hospice and palliative] organizations reported increasing the number of pediatric patients accepted into their care over the past five years. Programs are less likely to include perinatal (61%) patients compared to infants through young adults (94%). Trauma increased as a reason for pediatric enrollment. Nonmetro geographies are less likely to provide services for children. The pediatric palliative average annual census was 271, and the pediatric hospice average annual census was 74. The pediatric patient's average length of stay for palliative care was 154 days and for hospice was 96 days, [with] Medicaid (47%) [being] ... the most common form of reimbursement. Lack of trained personnel, low referrals, and funding were depicted as the most common barriers.

Size of the financial incentives in Medicare’s Skilled Nursing Facility Value-Based Purchasing ProgramJAMA Network Open; Robert E. Burke, Franya Hutchins, Jonathan Heintz, Syama R. Patel, Scott Appel, Julie Norman, Atul Gupta, Liam Rose, Rachel M. Werner; 9/25The Skilled Nursing Facility Value-Based Purchasing (SNF VBP) program seeks to reduce all-cause 30-day readmissions from SNF for traditional Medicare beneficiaries recently discharged from the hospital. Under SNF VBP, most SNFs receive a financial bonus or penalty up to 2% of their total traditional Medicare revenues each year, on the basis of their performance on 30-day readmission rates compared with other SNFs, or their own improvement in readmission rates over time. In this cohort study, we found that the size of the financial incentives at the SNF level are relatively small in terms of dollars and as a proportion of net operating income, and that most SNFs experienced substantial variability from year to year in their incentive payments. These 2 factors may have contributed to the relative lack of effectiveness of the SNF VBP program. First, if the level of the penalty is not sufficient to hire additional staff, purchase equipment (such as an x-ray machine or laboratory testing), or invest in new care processes, then SNFs will not be able to improve their ability to manage changes in patient condition. 

Palliative care at the cutting edge: Recent updates in surgical palliative careJournal of Pain and Symptom Management; by Antoinette R Esce, T J Douglas, Elizabeth Gorman, Sophia Tam, Christopher D Woodrell, Ana Berlin; 9/25Surgical patients with serious illness often experience unique clinical trajectories, systems of care, and relationships with providers. In order to meet the needs of this patient population and their care teams, hospice and palliative medicine professionals should be familiar with evolving best practices in surgical palliative care. We present the case of a geriatric trauma patient with a new diagnosis of advanced cancer cared for in a surgical intensive care unit. This example highlights important new developments in defining and supporting the geriatric trauma population, improving and expanding surgical palliative care education, and identifying which seriously ill surgical patients benefit most from palliative care interventions.

Examining public-facing hospice medical aid in dying participation policies in legalizing U.S. jurisdictionsJournal of Palliative Medicine; by Todd D. Becker, Paul Duberstein, Elizabeth A. Luth, Sanjana Kumar, Samuel Nemeth, Kira Phillips, Veda Kota, Elissa Kozlov; 9/25 Nearly 9 in 10 patients in the United States who use medical aid in dying (MAID) are enrolled in hospice. Only 39 of 724 hospices (5.4%) published a public-facing MAID participation policy. Policy availability was low even within the two jurisdictions mandating hospice online publication (0 of 52 from New Mexico [0.0%]; 14 of 389 from California [3.6%]). Moreover, even when published, policy content was highly variable and often too vague to discern which MAID-related activities were permitted. For instance, 18 of 39 policies (46.2%) did not report whether or not physicians were permitted to prescribe MAID medication. The lack of availability and specificity in hospices’ public-facing MAID participation policies may jeopardize patient access to legal end-of-life care options. 

[UK] Use of HidraWear in a malignant fungating wound at end of life: A case studyWounds UK; by Alison Schofield; 9/25Malignant wounds are a devastating complication associated with cancer, which are challenging to manage and can be distressing for patients, family members and healthcare professionals (HCPs). Management of malignant wounds can differ significantly from that of any other wound type, particularly as they often occur at end of life. Increased awareness and communication around this difficult wound type is needed, including case studies and sharing of HCPs’ experiences. This case study describes the treatment of an end-of-life patient in a hospice setting, with a challenging malignant fungating wound (MFW). This case highlights the importance of palliative symptom management and the benefits of using HidraWear in practice.

The National Dementia Workforce Study: The plan for organization sample frames and data collectionJournal of the American Geriatrics Society; by James Wagner, Laura M Wagner, Sheryl Zimmerman, Johanna van Tyen Silbersack Hickey, Kate Stewart, Sandi Nelson, Ji Qi, Raphael Nishimura, Piotr Dworak, Margaret Hudson, Jennifer Kelley, Heidi Guyer, Amy R Pettit, Donovan T Maust, Joanne Spetz; 9/25The National Dementia Workforce Study was designed to improve our understanding of the individuals and systems who care for people with dementia, but designing and implementing such a study is challenging due to the large number of patient care organizations, clinical and direct care roles, and locations in which care is provided. While there are national sampling frames available for federally certified nursing homes (i.e., via data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services), there are no national sampling frames for assisted living communities or home care agencies. We describe the plan for sampling and recruitment procedures to be used in each stage and discuss limitations, including implications for coverage of the target population. Data collected through these surveys will be available to the research community.

The government shutdown’s impact on Medicare Advantage: As clear as mud? JD Supra; by Jeffrey Davis and Lynn Nonnemaker; 10/16/25 Over the last couple of weeks, stakeholders have raised many questions about how the government shutdown will affect different healthcare initiatives and programs, and Medicare Advantage (MA) is no exception. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has provided guidance related to Medicare claims processing, telehealth services, and other operations, but most of that has pertained to Medicare fee-for-service (traditional Medicare). MA plans have been largely responsible for figuring out how the information applies to them. About half of Medicare beneficiaries are in MA, meaning more than 35 million Medicare beneficiaries and the providers who care for them rely on MA plans to communicate how benefits and coverage have, or have not, changed. As the shutdown drags on, CMS’s work to establish future MA policies and payment rates through rulemaking and notices also could be impeded. To discuss some of the ways that the shutdown has impacted MA and may continue to do so, I’m bringing in my colleague Lynn Nonnemaker. ...