Literature Review

MA: Shared credentialing platform slated for November start LeadingAge; by Nicole Fallon; 9/28/26 Provider credentialing and recredentialing can be one of the more time-consuming aspects of contracting with Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicaid managed care plans. Many LeadingAge members must submit the same information through separate credentialing processes for each plan they work with, often waiting months before contracts become active and negotiated rates take effect. A new national credentialing service, CertifyOS, may help streamline that process. Beginning November 1, 2026, providers participating in certain managed care plans will be able to submit credentialing information through a single online portal that can then be used by all participating health plans.

Warning: If you get a ‘new’ plastic Medicare card in the mail, do not give your Social Security number SavingAdvice.com; by James Hendrickson; 9/28/26 An official-looking Medicare card unexpectedly arrives in your mailbox, but there’s something different about it: it’s plastic, perhaps has a chip, and comes with instructions telling you to call a number to “activate” your new benefits. Don’t make that call. The Senior Medicare Patrol specifically warns beneficiaries about scams involving supposed new plastic Medicare cards, chip cards, and annual replacement cards. Scammers may use the story as an excuse to obtain your Medicare number, Social Security number, banking information, or other personal data. There’s an important 2026 wrinkle, however: receiving a new Medicare card isn’t automatically evidence of fraud. ... Here’s what to check before giving anyone information. ...

Hospice nurses, doctors take on Allina Health over pay, staffing in dueling strikes Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder; by Clint Combs; 9/28/26 Allina Health hospice nurses struck for a week over unpaid overtime and holiday pay, while 150 unionized doctors staged a historic four-day walkout of their own, as workers press for protections ahead of a proposed $26 billion merger with Sutter Health. More than 60 hospice nurses represented by SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa picketed outside Abbott Northwestern Hospital for a week, demanding overtime and holiday pay from Allina Health after a year of stalled negotiations. The strike overlapped with a historic four-day walkout by 150 unionized doctors, who reached a tentative deal with Allina on Sept. 22.

People say they want to die at home. I think about it differently. Guest essay International New York Times; by Daniela J. Lamas; 9/29/26What is a good death? We tend to imagine a good death as one that takes place at home, far from the sounds and smells and lines and tubes of an intensive care unit, like the one where I work. I believed this for many years. But after a decade as an I.C.U. doctor, I've come to think we need a different definition of a good death. A death at home can be the right thing for a patient and his or her family. But it is not inherently better. An I.C.U. death can be peaceful and dignified. A death at home can be panicked and painful. Yet we have built a culture, and quality metrics, that treat I.C.U. care at the end of life as a failure. ... "dying." But sometimes intensive care is the right place to care for a dying patient.

What is end-of-life care at home? A complete guide for families exeleon | Healthcare; 9/28/26 A study published in Federal Practitioner in September 2025, using data from the CDC WONDER database, found that home was the most common place of death among cancer patients between 2003 and 2023, accounting for 40.3% of all recorded deaths. ... This guide walks through what services are typically included, how eligibility works, and what separates in-home support from care delivered in a facility. Along the way, it covers home care for end of life planning, the difference between hospice and general end-of-life support, and practical steps for arranging services quickly.

How caregivers can prepare for a loved one’s final days AARP; by Paul Wynn; 9/28/26 When Dr. Chris Kerr’s mother was dying, he had the kind of experience that can change the way a doctor thinks about death. Kerr had spent decades caring for people at the end of life as a palliative care doctor in the Buffalo, New York, area. But when his mother, Shirley, became seriously ill, he experienced death through the lens of a son and a caregiver... “My lasting memory of my mother is her strong connection to her parents,” says Kerr, author of Death Is But a Dream and chief medical officer of Hospice and Palliative Care Buffalo. “It took me a while, but I realized that I had to stop trying to play doctor and just be there for her.”

Inside "Good Grief," Sara Bareilles' new album and documentary Public Broadcasting System (PBS) | Amanpour & Co.; video interview of Sara Bareilles and Josh Alexander; 9/22/26 Musician Sara Bareilles has had a difficult few years. Behind the glamour of her successful music career, she has been dealing with loss. Her new album "Good Grief," and a documentary about its making, speak to the will to overcome. The album is out now and the doc, "Sara Bareilles: Good Grief," is available to watch on Kinema. Bareilles and her director, Josh Alexander, speak out about the journey.

Hundreds reach out after beloved artist Phil Ponder enters hospice careThe Tennessean, Nashville, TN; by Brad Schmitt and Andy Humbles; 9/26/26Phil Ponder started writing a love letter to Nashville in the 1980s with his popular watercolor paintings of the downtown skyline. When he entered hospice care in early September at 93, the city he has spent decades celebrating has been sending that love back. Family members have brightened his days by reading from the hundreds of tributes from friends and loved ones whose lives Ponder has enriched. ... On Sept. 25, several Metro Council members opened the Phil Ponder Conference Room, which has more than 10 Ponder artwork prints on the walls. 

Medicare fraud crackdown: what recent enforcement actions tell providers JD Supra; by Adam Appleberry; 9/28/26 ... Over the past several months, CMS and DOJ have announced a series of enforcement actions involving billions of dollars in suspected or allegedly improper Medicare claims. Although the cases involve different types of providers and different alleged conduct, several themes are beginning to emerge. ...

EvergreenHealth receives transformative $100M gift from Dean Weidner The Bee, Kirkland, WA; Press Release; 9/28/26 EvergreenHealth has received a philanthropic gift of $100 million from Dean Weidner—the largest gift in the community-owned hospital’s history. This transformative donation helps accelerate EvergreenHealth’s plans to advance high-quality health care in the community with expanded access and increased capacity for generations to come. The gift honors the legacy of Dean Weidner and his wife, Ana, both dedicated philanthropists and advocates for EvergreenHealth’s mission to advance the health of the community through safe, compassionate, cost-effective health care. ...EvergreenHealth is two-hospital health system with a network of primary care practices, urgent care centers, specialty clinics, extensive home care and hospice services, and 24/7 emergency care in Kirkland, Monroe and Redmond.

NIH grant advances research on palliative care at home Indiana University School of Nursing; by Glenda Shaw; 9/23/26 ... A new research project led by Indiana University School of Nursing assistant professor Lyndsay DeGroot, PhD, RN, aims to bring palliative care directly to patients in their homes through a telephone-based program that could make supportive care more accessible for people living with serious chronic illness. To support this work, DeGroot has received a NIH-National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) five-year K23 Career Development Award totaling $916,000. The award will fund her project, “Implementing Community-Based Palliative Care for Adults with Heart Failure or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.”

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BrightSpring Health targets growth through specialty pharmacy, M&A and AI Ticker Report - BrightSpring Health Services; by Ethan Ryder; 9/27/26 BrightSpring Health Services (NASDAQ:BTSG) outlined its growth strategy across pharmacy and provider services at the Bernstein healthcare services conference, emphasizing specialty pharmacy expansion, home health acquisitions, technology investments and opportunities to integrate services for complex patients. ... The company divides its operations between pharmacy and provider services, with the premise that many patients require multiple services, including medications, primary care, home health, hospice and rehabilitation.