Literature Review

Vinyl therapy brings comfort to Dell Seton patients through music and memories ABC KVUE, Austin, TX; by Michael Courier; 2/23/26 At Dell Seton Medical Center at The University of Texas, palliative care physician Dr. Tyler Jorgensen rolls a record player on a cart into patients’ rooms, along with an ever‑growing library of vinyl records. The bedside music program, called ATX‑VINyL, is designed for patients facing serious or terminal diagnoses, from metastatic cancer to advancing dementia and Parkinson’s disease. In palliative medicine, Jorgensen describes his team as an “extra layer of support” that focuses on a patient’s values, stories and goals while managing symptoms and navigating difficult treatment decisions.

Hollywood Health System, Inc. announces major expansion of palliative care services amid record demand The America Watch, Toluca, CA; Press Release; 2/20/26 Hollywood Health System, Inc. (HHS), a leading provider of comprehensive post-acute clinical care, today announced a significant increase in patient enrollment within its Palliative Care Services division. To meet this rising demand due to shifting demographics, the company is methodically expanding its clinical staffing and specialized resources, reinforcing its commitment to high-quality supportive care. ... To support the growing patient census, Hollywood Health System, Inc. has increased its clinical headcount by 25% over the last two quarters. 

Apex Hospice, ex-director settle False Claims retaliation suit Bloomberg Law; by Daniel Seiden; 2/20/26 Illinois-based Apex Hospice & Palliative Care Inc. and its former medical director reached a confidential settlement of a False Claims Act suit alleging the company fired her in retaliation for calling attention to Medicare fraud, a federal district court said Friday. Janice Makela’s suit is dismissed without prejudice, Chief Judge Virginia M. Kendall of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois said in an order.

Fraught times in the I.C.U. DNYUZ; letter to the editor, Dr. Jennifer Friedman; 2/21/26 Re “My Patient Was Dying, but Would His Wife Accept It?,” by Daniela J. Lamas (Opinion guest essay, Feb. 1):

Lawyer explains why everyone should do 'mandatory hospice volunteering' when they turn 18 Upworthy; by Heather Wake; 2/20/26 In a recent, thought-provoking episode of the Impact Theory podcast with Tom Bilyeu, renowned divorce attorney and author James Sexton shared how being a hospice volunteer drastically changed his perspective on life. "I think when you turn 18, you should have to do a year or two of mandatory hospice volunteering," Sexton said. "It changed my entire way of viewing the world."

A nationwide retrospective analysis of trends in palliative care consultation and do-not-resuscitate status in heart failure hospitalizations Palliative Medicine; by Nikitha Murthy, Ramy Sedhom, Purvi Parwani, Megan Pelter, Liset Stoletniy, Tanya Doctorian, Diane Tran, Antoine Sakr, Dmitry Abramov; 2/21/26 Conclusions: While palliative care and do-not-resuscitate use among heart failure hospitalizations have increased, they remain low. Over half of those who die during a heart failure admission do not receive palliative care consultation, underscoring missed opportunities to optimize end-of-life care. 

AI in healthcare needs system-level execution, not task automation Becker's Health IT; by Aditya Bansod; 2/18/26 Healthcare is investing in AI. But most operating models haven’t changed. Health systems have long had more manual work to do than staff to perform it. Now, these health systems are rapidly adopting AI under the promise that it will take on more autonomous work and deliver outcomes at a greater scale than their previous digital initiatives. They’re piloting chatbots, deploying AI phone agents, testing predictive models, and moving clinical documentation to AI assistants. Yet in many organizations, the core operating structure remains reactive. ...

Stolen ambulance crashes into Meridian medical building. What is Portico North? Idaho Statesman, Meridian, ID; by Hali Smith; 2/19/26 Offices in a Meridian medical building were closed Thursday after a stolen ambulance smashed into the six-story structure. The crash occurred around 12:30 a.m. Thursday at the Portico North building at the southeast corner of Eagle and Franklin roads. ... Portico North is owned by St. Luke’s Health System, whose Meridian hospital is one block to the south. ... “There is no clinical patient care provided in the Portico North building,” Myron told the Statesman. The site functions as a workspace for a health insurance company as well as St. Luke’s hospice care providers and home health teams. 

New CAPC Report identifies caregiver support as key to better outcomes and lower health care costs Globe Newswire, New York, NY; by Center to Advance Palliative Care Press Release (CAPC); 2/20/26As caregiving demands continue to grow nationwide, a new report from the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) identifies formal caregiver support programs as a key driver of better outcomes and lower health care costs. The report links hospital-based caregiver support programs to improved outcomes for patients and caregivers, while being financially self-sustaining themselves.

More US companies are offering caregiving benefits to employees Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, Baton Rouge, LA; by The Associated Press; 2/19/26 Debra Whitman was traveling for work when her father was suddenly admitted to the hospital in serious pain. She jetted home to Maryland and took several days off to care for him in his rural community in eastern Washington state and to set him up with a motorized lift chair that would help him stand up. Fortunately for Whitman, who serves as chief public policy officer at AARP, her employer offers paid time off for caregiving for elderly family members, a benefit which experts say is growing in popularity as the U.S. population ages. 

Hospice use after ICU admission increased across the US from 2011–2023 Medical Xpress; by Boston University School of Medicine, edited by Gaby Clark; 2/19/26 ... In a new study from Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, researchers have found that more older adults in the U.S. are being discharged to hospice after an ICU stay than in the past, and this increase happened even as overall short-term death rates stayed stable. This research is the first to quantify hospice use after ICU stays on a national scale, and suggests a real shift in how end-of-life care is delivered to the seriously ill. These findings appear online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

Is your ladder leaning against the wrong wall? Richard Mobley on leadership and calling | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); hosted by Chris Comeaux with Richard Mobley; 2/18/26 What if you spend decades building a successful career—only to realize you were climbing the wrong ladder?  In this episode of TCNtalks / Anatomy of Leadership, executive leadership coach Richard Mobley, Founder and Principal of the Seven Four Group, Inc. and the Be Far More! System, joins Chris Comeaux to explore one of the most important questions leaders face: What comes after success? For CEOs, healthcare executives, and Hospice leaders approaching retirement or transition, this conversation centers on the critical shift from achievement to lasting significance—and what it truly means to finish well. 

Difficult encounters: How to set boundaries in the context of structural inequitiesJournal of Pain & Symptom Management; by Carrie C. Wu, Erik K. Fromme; 1/26Difficult encounters between patients and clinicians impact all areas of medical care, yet how to manage them is not routinely taught in medical training. This paper presents a case of a patient with cancer who struggled with emotional outbursts and impulsive behaviors. In the context of the racial trauma and socioeconomic challenges that the patient also experienced, the team struggled with boundary setting. We will review both traditional and contemporary approaches to the management of difficult clinician-patient interactions, while also addressing some of the limitations of existing frameworks. We will explore the role of bias in boundary setting and make suggestions for individual-, team-, and system-level approaches.