Literature Review

Delegate Tom Hutchinson receives Making a Difference Award The Star, Annapolis, MD; 10/31/26 Maryland State Delegate Tom Hutchinson has received the 2026 Making A Difference Award from the Hospice & Palliative Care Network of Maryland in recognition of his advocacy for hospice and palliative care and his commitment to improving access to quality healthcare across the Eastern Shore. The award was presented at the Network’s annual conference in Linthicum, Maryland on October 1.

Medicare freeze on new hospice and home health agencies expires November 13 as CMS stays silent Medical Daily; by Joseph James; 10/29/26 A Deadline Two Weeks Away and No Word From CMS: A nationwide freeze that has blocked new hospices and home health agencies from enrolling in Medicare since May is set to expire on Nov. 13, and the federal government has not said whether it will keep the freeze in place. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services told providers it would give at least 60 days' notice before the moratoria expire, according to Home Health Care News. As of Oct. 30, no extension notice had been published, leaving hospitals, discharge planners, and families without a clear picture of what the end-of-life and in-home care market will look like in two weeks.

How Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare influence palliative and hospice care implementation: a conversation with Xin Hu, PhD The ASCO Post; by Jo Cavallo; 10/29/26 In 2024, ASCO updated its guideline for the integration of palliative care in oncology, ... However, despite ASCO’s recommendations, utilization of palliative care in the oncology setting remains low, with about one-third of patients globally receiving this service, with the highest utilization rate of nearly 56% in Africa and the lowest, 30%, in the United States. The results from two studies by Xin Hu, PhD, MSPH, and her colleagues evaluating the use of early palliative care among traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries with advanced cancers find that systemic and structural barriers in the health-care system are contributing to the underuse of palliative care among these patients.

National Hospice and Palliative Care Month: Air ambulance specialist offers perspective on end-of-life transportation support Cision PRWeb, Albuquerque, NM; Press Release by AirCare1; 11/1/26 ... Air transport allows a medically stable hospice patient to travel long distances to be near family, either at home or in a facility closer to loved ones. ... Patient wishes sometimes include a change of place. A medical flight for a hospice patient can transport them from a hospital to their home in another state, avoiding the strain of a long drive or a commercial flight. Departure happens only once the patient is stable, so the trip becomes a planned step in care. Families weighing an air ambulance for end-of-life transport should make an informed decision before choosing a provider. The type of air transport matters. Jets handle long-range trips, while helicopters suit shorter distances, so they must weigh up the type of transport. An air ambulance should also carry the equipment needed to act as an intensive care unit in flight, helping patients receive appropriate care while in transport.

EverHeart Hospice and LeadingAge Ohio meet with state representative Angie King to discuss House Bill 945 EverHeart Hospice, Greenville, OH; Press Release; 10/26/26  EverHeart Hospice’s Senior Leadership Team, along with representatives from LeadingAge Ohio, met with State Representative Angie King to discuss House Bill 945 and its potential impact on hospice care across Ohio. The discussion focused on how House Bill 945 can help establish important safeguards to ensure patients and families have access to clear, reliable information when identifying quality, mission-driven hospice providers. Participants also discussed the importance of regulatory requirements that hold hospice organizations accountable to high standards of care.

Sunday newsletters focus on headlines and top read stories of the last week (in order) - enjoy!

Perceptions of telemedicine use for specialist care in skilled nursing facilitiesJAMA Network Open; by Gillian K. SteelFisher, Mary G. Findling, Eran N. Ben-Porath, Andrew D. Wilcock, Ateev Mehrotra, David C. Grabowski, Michael L. Barnett; 10/26More than one million people live as long-term residents in US skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Quality of care in these settings is often suboptimal, and among the key challenges is insufficient use of specialist care. In this national survey of 379 directors of nursing at SNFs, most of those whose residents used telemedicine confirmed the advantages of telemedicine, although they also reported additional time burdens on nursing staff. The top reasons for not using telemedicine among less-frequent users and nonusers were that specialists offered telemedicine only infrequently and there were limited improvements in quality of care over normal practices. The findings suggest that specialist telemedicine care is seen as a useful tool for SNFs, but incentives for specialists to offer telemedicine and reimbursement for nursing staff time are needed.

End-of-life care for people who are incarcerated—ReplyJAMA; by Nicole Mushero, Brie Williams; 10/26We appreciate the response to our article by Ms Ofori-Darko and Dr McClelland and agree wholeheartedly that the definition of palliative care for incarcerated patients should be comprehensive and match the community standard. This standard includes all evidence-based interventions that palliate symptoms during serious, life-limiting illness. We also agree that short-course or single-fraction regimens of radiation therapy may be indicated for incarcerated patients with serious illness who may face additional barriers to longer-duration treatments. Other palliative treatments may also include some forms of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, antibiotics, blood transfusions, and diuresis. Some treatments may lose palliative effectiveness over time and thus be stopped as a person transitions to hospice care.

Palliative care trigger process in the pediatric intensive care unit: A quality improvement project available to purchaseCritical Care Nurse; by Cynthia Myo, Beth Nachtsheim Bolick, Julie Reed, Kimberly A. Pyke-Grimm; 10/26Early integration of palliative care for pediatric intensive care unit patients and their families is beneficial for establishing goals of care and complex decision-making. Trigger criteria were developed through a literature review and interprofessional work group discussions. The pediatric palliative care trigger criteria process was integrated into 3 areas of the pediatric intensive care unit workflow. Staff members identified patients meeting the trigger criteria and initiated team discussion on the appropriateness of palliative care. Conclusion: Implementation of a trigger criteria process to identify patients with high needs for palliative care was successful and effective in the pediatric intensive care unit in the setting of limited palliative care availability.

Medical debt and advanced cancer stage at diagnosisJAMA Network Open; by Jiazhang Xing, Xuesong Han, Xin Hu, Lingbin Meng, Lang Qu, Ryan D. Nipp, K. Robin Yabroff, Changchuan Jiang; 10/26Medical debt is a pervasive challenge for US households and has emerged as a key social determinant of health. Approximately 1 in 6 individuals in the US report medical debt, with millions facing debt in collections, and this situation disproportionately impacts low-income, uninsured, and racially and ethnically minoritized and socially deprived populations. At the community level, medical debt reflects broader structural and policy-related factors, including local insurance market characteristics, state Medicaid policies, hospital billing and collection practices, and regional socioeconomic conditions. In this cross-sectional study of US counties, higher medical debt burden was associated with higher incidence rates of late-stage and overall cancer across multiple cancer types.

I need a six-month vacation twice a year.  ~Anonymous

Saturday newsletters focus on headlines and research - enjoy!