Literature Review
The benefits and hidden costs of AI scribes
08/10/26 at 03:00 AMThe benefits and hidden costs of AI scribesHealthcare Brew; by Maia Anderson; 8/5/26Ambient AI scribes have typically been marketed as tools to reduce providers’ administrative burden by speeding up the clinical documentation process. They may also be useful in boosting health system revenues. Multiple studies show that scribe usage is leading to more billing codes being included in clinical notes, which in turn leads to higher reimbursement from insurers and higher revenues for hospitals. That may be a slight boon for health systems, experts said. But, they cautioned that it could also increase overall medical costs and insurance premiums, particularly when scribes are used in inpatient settings, which involve billing for much higher-cost services. Whether they also result in improvements in care is unclear.
World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, Oct. 10, 2026, with theme "Pain management - an essential part of palliative care"
08/10/26 at 03:00 AMWorld Hospice and Palliative Care Day, Oct. 10, 2026, with theme "Pain management - an essential part of palliative careWorldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA); Press Release; 8/7/26World Hospice and Palliative Care Day is an annual unified day of action to celebrate and support hospice and palliative care around the world. WHPCD has been marked every year since 2005. Join us on Saturday 10 October 2026 to advocate for better hospice and palliative care services around the world.
Sixth Circuit clarifies Medicare safe harbor for hospice providers in landmark coverage decision
08/10/26 at 03:00 AMSixth Circuit clarifies Medicare safe harbor for hospice providers in landmark coverage decision JD Supra; by Jason Bring and Bill Dombi; 8/5/26 Key Takeaways
52 hospitals closing departments or ending services
08/10/26 at 03:00 AM52 hospitals closing departments or ending servicesBecker's Hospital Review; by Andrew Cass; 8/7/26A number of healthcare organizations have recently closed medical departments or ended services at facilities to shore up finances, focus on more in-demand services or address staffing shortages. Here are 52 department closures or services that are ending or have been announced, advanced or finalized that Becker’s reported since Jan. 1: ... [#40 names, "Minot, N.D.-based Trinity Health is suspending home health and outpatient hospice services. ...]
Nevada doctor charged with $95M wound care fraud on Medicare
08/10/26 at 03:00 AMNevada doctor charged with $95M wound care fraud on MedicareOIG press release; 8/5/26A federal grand jury in the District of Nevada returned an indictment yesterday charging Stephen Dubin, M.D., 74, of Henderson, Nevada, with a $95 million scheme to defraud Medicare by billing for medically unnecessary amniotic wound allografts that he and others applied to elderly Medicare patients... Dubin allegedly applied these allografts to elderly patients — including vulnerable patients in hospice care — without medical necessity.
Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are ...
08/10/26 at 03:00 AMChildren are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work. ~ C.S. Lewis
Hudson Valley Hospice lights the Walkway in Memory of loved ones
08/10/26 at 03:00 AMHudson Valley Hospice lights the Walkway in Memory of loved ones Times Hudson Valley, Newgurgh, NY; by Mark Reynolds; 8/5/26 The Hudson Valley Hospice Foundation held its second annual Lights Across the Hudson luminary event Friday evening at the midpoint of the Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park. The free event offered visitors a chance for reflection, connection and shared memory of loved ones who have died. Thousands of glowing luminaries, each honoring an individual, lined the southern side of the walkway’s 1.28-mile span. ... “Tonight, as the sun sets and the Walkway begins to glow with thousands of luminaries, we are reminded that love does not end when a life ends,” Lisa Wilson, executive director of the foundation said. ... Wilson said each luminary represents its own story. ... Students from Hudson Valley Voices in Harmony, led by choral director Stephanie Hu-Corbett, performed several selections, including “Be the Light.”
The leadership pendulum and the paradox of choice: how leaders balance purpose, power and performance
08/10/26 at 03:00 AMThe leadership pendulum and the paradox of choice: how leaders balance purpose, power and performance Chief Learning Officer; by Wesley Payne McClendon; 8/6/2026 Institutions drift not when leaders hesitate, but when they overcorrect, substitute force for judgment or confuse visible action with disciplined leadership. The real leadership challenge is to keep purpose, power and performance in proportion so the organization can move forward with legitimacy, clarity and endurance. ... The leadership challenge is to remain anchored in purpose and governance, apply the right amount of force, hold the necessary tension, stay close enough to lived reality to remain relevant and resist swings that create more disruption than progress. Viewed in this way, leadership is not judged only by visible action, but by the mechanics that produce drift, overreach, correction and return.Examine McClendon's teaching graphic for "The Leadership Pendulum"
Why the proposed palliative care benefit comes up short for home care advocates
08/10/26 at 03:00 AMWhy the proposed palliative care benefit comes up short for home care advocatesMcKnight's Homecare; by John Roszkowski; 8/3/26Palliative care providers are encouraged by a new provision in the federal home health payment rule that would expand community-based palliative care for some Medicare beneficiaries, but many questions remain on whether the proposed change would have a significant impact... Providers have long advocated for an expansion of community-based palliative care under the home health benefit in original Medicare and the fact CMS is finally recognizing its potential value is “an encouraging signal,” according to Fred Bentley, managing principal for Bentley Health Strategies, which provides strategic consulting and analytics and post-acute care provider organizations. Still, he said the proposed change CMS is considering would be limited to a relatively small subset of seriously ill fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries that are homebound and need skilled care.
Hospice leaders: palliative care through home health a limited prospect
08/10/26 at 02:00 AMHospice leaders: palliative care through home health a limited prospect Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 8/6/26 Structuring palliative care payment through the home health benefit is the wrong approach, according to some hospice leaders. The U.S Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in its proposed 2027 home health rule included language specifying that Medicare would cover community-based palliative care through the Medicare home health benefit. ... CMS indicated in a statement, “Therefore, in this proposed rule, CMS states that skilled palliative care services can be furnished and billed under existing Medicare home health benefits for eligible patients with serious illnesses.” ... But the home health chassis is not built to support the full range of interdisciplinary palliative care, some hospice leaders contend. The benefit also imposes certain limitations. For example, patients would need to be homebound. ...
Embracing the four M's—a path to person-centered, reliable hospice and palliative care | part two
08/10/26 at 12:00 AMEmbracing the four M's—a path to person-centered, reliable hospice and palliative care | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Margherita Labson and Kelly McCutcheon Adams; 8/5/26 What if the key to delivering more compassionate, reliable hospice care isn't another regulation—but a simpler way of thinking? In Part One of this compelling conversation, host Chris Comeaux welcomes Kelly McCutcheon Adams, Senior Director at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and Margherita Labson, President and CEO of MCLabson Consultation & Education Services, to explore the transformative power of the 4 M's Framework. Originally developed through the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative, the 4 M's—What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility—provide an evidence-based roadmap for delivering highly individualized, person-centered care while improving reliability across healthcare settings.
Functional outcomes and quality of life for patients with cachexia and solid tumour cancers: Findings of a systematic literature review
08/09/26 at 03:55 AMHow nurse leaders can cultivate a culture of inquiry to drive evidence-based practice, research, and clinical innovation
08/09/26 at 03:50 AMNational Alliance for Care at Home responds to FY 2027 Hospice Final Rule
08/09/26 at 03:45 AMNational Alliance for Care at Home responds to FY 2027 Hospice Final RuleNational Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA; Press Release; 7/30/26The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) today responded to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) fiscal year (FY) 2027 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update final rule, which finalizes payment and regulatory changes under the Medicare hospice benefit.CMS finalized a 2.3% payment update to the Medicare hospice benefit, which continues to fall short of the rising labor and supply costs required to deliver high-quality hospice care. As demand for hospice services continues to grow, payment updates must more accurately reflect providers’ costs so that access to these essential services does not decline. “CMS’s 2.3% payment update does not reflect the true cost of delivering hospice care and adds further strain to providers who are already stretched thin,” said Jennifer Sheets, CEO of the Alliance. “Compounding that pressure is a Service and Spending Variation Index built on a fundamentally flawed methodology that penalizes legitimate providers for non-hospice claims they have no visibility into nor control over, with no process to review or correct the data before it is made public. This is not a sound approach to program integrity. An inadequate payment update combined with an unreliable oversight tool creates a serious and growing burden for legitimate providers working to serve their communities.”
High flow nasal cannula and high velocity nasal insufflation as a goal-concordant support tool for dyspnoea relief in palliative and end of life care
08/09/26 at 03:40 AMNY’s MAiD law: updates that medical providers and facilities should know
08/09/26 at 03:35 AMNY’s MAiD law: updates that medical providers and facilities should know JD Supra; by Rivkin Radler, LLD - Attorneys at Law; 7/31/26As discussed in our prior publication, Medical Aid in Dying Is Now Legal in NY, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act (MAID) on February 6, 2026. Since then, the New York State Department of Health (DOH) has issued a form (DOH-5847) for patients to request MAID, frequently asked questions (FAQs), educational materials, guidance, and proposed reporting regulations. Together, these materials provide important directions for providers and facilities as they prepare for the law’s August 5, 2026, effective date.
[Canada] Listening to young people on childhood death: a youth-focused participatory approach to children's palliative and end-of-life research and policymaking
08/09/26 at 03:30 AM[Canada] Listening to young people on childhood death: a youth-focused participatory approach to children's palliative and end-of-life research and policymaking Children & Society; by Sydney Campbell, Nika Rovensky, Ryan Kent, Lauren Delaney, Franco A. Carnevale, Mary Ellen Macdonald; 6/23/26 Conclusion: Our study is one of the first to investigate the perspectives of young people in Canada regarding children's palliative and end-of-life (P-EOL) care, and the first in Canada to employ a participatory approach with young people in research about childhood death and dying. ... To date, the lessons we have learned can help researchers from diverse contexts aiming to carry out similar projects related to children's P-EOL care, based in the belief that the only way to truly shift current practices that overlook young people's voices and engagements as meaningful is through continuous advocacy, development, and application of engagement practices in all matters affecting young people.
One clinician, every conversation: Palliative care delivery by solo APRN hospitalists in Critical Access Hospitals
08/09/26 at 03:25 AMOne clinician, every conversation: Palliative care delivery by solo APRN hospitalists in Critical Access HospitalsJournal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing; by Melissa Skoff; 7/26Advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) who practice as solo hospitalists in critical access hospitals are often underrecognized in their role in providing palliative and end-of-life care. This article describes the full scope of the solo APRN hospitalist in a critical access hospital setting with close attention to how complex patient demands contribute to the challenges in providing high-quality end-of-life communications. This article examines clinical, educational, and ethical dimensions of this work, and presents a case example that illustrates how these pressures present during a shift. Strategies to strengthen rural palliative care capacity are discussed, including tele-palliative care, remote ethics support, and APRN-centered education. As rural workforce shortages persist and continue to rise, alongside rising patient acuity, naming and addressing these structural gaps is essential in improving quality of care and protecting the well-being of a solo APRN hospitalist.
Homemakers create quilts for hospice patients
08/09/26 at 03:05 AMHomemakers create quilts for hospice patientsThe Kentucky Standard, Nelson County, KY; by Katelyn Norris;8/1/26 Nelson County Homemakers continue to find new way to serve their community. Earlier this week nearly two dozen quilts made by its members were donated toward local hospice patients. On Monday, the quilts were displayed at the Nelson County Extension Office as the local Homemakers donated them to the Hospice of Nelson County. The quilts were sewn, crocheted and knitted with love and care by the Homemakers. Each quilt has a tag denoting it was created by members of the group. ... Jaime Crockett [Manager of Clinical Services with Hospice of Nelson County] said she wants this moment to encourage other local quilters, crocheters and knitters to donate their own new, handmade blankets for those in hospice care.
Sunday newsletters
08/09/26 at 03:00 AMSunday newsletters focus on headlines and top read stories of the last week (in order) - enjoy!
[China] PRINCIPLISMQA: A Philosophy-grounded approach to assessing LLM-human clinical medical ethics alignment
08/09/26 at 03:00 AMIn the near future, AI is gonna...
08/09/26 at 03:00 AMIn the near future, AI is gonna tell a woman that she is wrong and to calm down... And that, my friends, will be the end of AI!
CMS Website: SSVI Index; FY 2027 Final SSVI Overview; FY 2027 Final Hospice Wage Index
08/09/26 at 03:00 AMCMS Website: SSVI Index; FY 2027 Final SSVI Overview; FY 2027 Final Hospice Wage IndexCMS website; compiled by Judi Lund Person; retrieved from the Internet 8/3/26 Downloads on CMS website that provide additional information for the final rule; zip files [standard delivery format]