Literature Review

DOJ doubles down on healthcare fraud enforcement with new West Coast strike force MedCity News; by Katie Adams; 5/10/26 ... The DOJ rolled out a strike force targeting healthcare fraud in Arizona, Nevada and Northern California. The new strike force — which the DOJ is calling its “West Coast” healthcare fraud strike force — comes seven months after the department launched a similar strike force going after healthcare fraud in Massachusetts. Florida is not on this list yet, even though it has a reputation for healthcare fraud, but it might be next. 

Clinician grief is a hidden crisis in modern hospice care MedPage Today's KevinMD.com; by Linda Ellington, RN; 5/12/26 I stood knocking at the door of my hospice patient like I did every Monday for the past eight months. A musically talented man in his early 40s was always waiting for my weekly nursing visit, more so for the aspect of socialization. He was diagnosed with colon cancer two years prior and had a colostomy bag, leaving this once vibrant, social, even handsome man a shell of what he once was. He became introverted and allowed only one friend to check on him occasionally. He had no family and only one estranged child who lived in another country. There was no answer at the door ...

Proposed Rulemaking - Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing: Licensed Practical Nurse Pronouncement of Death Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; 5/9/26 ... Background and Purpose: Prior to the recent amendment to the VSL, the authority to pronounce death in a home hospice setting was limited to registered nurses (RN), physicians, physician assistants and coroners. As a practical matter, that means that an LPN, who is often present and delivering end-of-life care to hospice patients, has to contact an RN and wait for the RN's arrival for the deceased to be pronounced dead, the family contacted, if they are not present, and the body released to a funeral director or county coroner. This approach is not practical or efficient. Moreover, it is not compassionate to grieving families to wait, sometimes for hours, for the RN to arrive to have their loved one removed.

Valley Hospice receives $150,000 grant Your Ohio News; Press Release; 5/11/26 Valley Hospice recently received a $150,000 anonymous grant to support its Caring Connections Palliative Care Program, allowing the organization to expand care and support for patients and families across the region. “We are deeply grateful for this extraordinary gift. This $150,000 donation ensures that our growing community-based palliative care program can continue to meet the expanding needs of those we serve,” said Andrea Hale, Valley Hospice CEO. 

A daughter honors her father in career choice while following her mother’s lead: Sara and Alicia Offenbacker on the day Alicia graduated with her nursing degree from Rutgers Camden SNJ Today; by Margie Barham; 5/10/26 For Sara and Alicia Offenbacker, hospice care is more than a profession; it’s a shared calling rooted in love, loss, and the powerful bond between a mother and daughter. Sara Offenbacker has spent the past four years as program manager at NJHealth Hospice and Palliative Care. ... Working alongside her is her daughter, Alicia, an RN case manager who plays a central role in patient care ... Working together is meaningful, but Alicia’s decision to become a nurse and to choose hospice runs much deeper.

HopeHealth, URI College of Nursing partner on new hospice training program Providence Business News, Providence, RI; by Jacquelyn Voghel; 5/10/26 A partnership between the University of Rhode Island College of Nursing and HopeHealth will provide students with new clinical, training, research and professional opportunities in hospice and palliative care. Under the formal academic-practice program, announced on May 7, HopeHealth will host clinical rotations and advanced practice experiences for URI nursing students. The hospice and palliative care provider will also work with the university to develop new research collaboration opportunities for faculty and doctoral students in the nursing program.

Southcoast Health event raises over $230,000 for hospice The Herald News, Fall River, MA; by Beth McDermott; 5/7/26 Southcoast Health's annual Light the Way event raised more than $230,000 for Southcoast Health at Home's Compassion Fund, according to a community announcement. The event, held April 29 at the Century House in Acushnet, brought together community members, donors and caregivers to support Southcoast Health at Home's Compassion Fund.

Big Bend Hospice launches Nutrition Shake Drive to support Jefferson County Patients WTXL-27 ABC, Tallahassee, FL; by Crystal Whitman; 5/8/26 Big Bend Hospice in Jefferson County is calling on the community to help provide vital nutrition for local hospice patients through a month-long Nutrition Shake Drive. For many in hospice care, eating full meals can be difficult or impossible. Meal replacements like Ensure, Boost, and Glucerna offer comfort and essential nutrients, but they are often not covered by health insurance, leaving families — especially in rural areas — to shoulder the cost themselves.

HOPE is raising the stakes for hospice compliance HealthIT Answers; by Michelle Barlow, RN, BSN; 5/11/26 Hospice providers are entering a tougher regulatory environment. ... At the center of these changes is the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool, which replaced the Hospice Item Set in October 2025. ...

CMS’s Age-Friendly Hospital Measure: Julia Adler-Milstein, Stephanie Rogers, and Shari LingGeriPal podcast; by Eric Widera, Alex Smith, Julia Adler-Milstein, Stephanie Rogers, Shari Ling; 3/26/26In 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began requiring hospitals participating in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) program to report on a new “Age-Friendly Hospital Measure.” The hope is that, by attesting to this measure, hospitals will develop evidence-based processes to improve care for older adults in hospital settings. On this week’s podcast, we explore this new measure with Sheri Ling, CMS’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer serving in the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality (CCSQ). We’ve also invited some returning guests from our past Age Friendly Health Systems podcast, Julia Adler-Milstein and Stephanie Rogers, to discuss how they are thinking about this new measure and how we should operationalize it.Publisher's note: If required in hospitals, it may soon be required in hospice... See information about CHAP's Age-Friendly Care -Certified Professional (AFC-CP) Course here.

Healthcare leaders break down hospice reform, Medicare & quality care | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Tom Koutsoumpas and Carole Fisher; 5/6/26 In Part One of Healthcare Leaders Break Down Hospice Reform, Medicare & Quality Care, Chris Comeaux sits down with nationally respected healthcare leaders Tom Koutsoumpas, Founder & CEO of NPHI and Carole Fisher, President of NPHI to explore the evolving future of hospice, palliative care, Medicare oversight, and the growing demand for quality-driven, compassionate healthcare leadership. Together, they unpack the growing challenges facing end-of-life care — from fraud and benefit manipulation to the urgent need for quality transparency and authentic patient-centered care.

Navigating organ donation discussions: Toby Campbell, Nikole Neidlinger, Samantha TaylorGeriPal podcast; by Eric Widera, Alex Smith, Toby Campbell, Nikole Neidlinger, Samantha Taylor; 5/7/26While we have previously discussed brain death criteria on the GeriPal Podcast, we have yet to explore the complex landscape families face regarding organ donation. In this episode, we dive into the nuances of Donation after Brain Death (DBD) and Donation after Circulatory Death (DCD), and clarify the essential role of healthcare providers who are not part of an organ procurement organization. In this episode of the GeriPal Podcast, we step into a space in serious illness care that is often misunderstood, overlooked, or reduced to a simple “call the organ donation network” checklist item.

A Georgia hospice care provider has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy WhatNow; by Twinkle Jha; 5/6/26 The Lighthouse Community Hospice, Inc. has officially filed for bankruptcy protection. The healthcare provider offering hospice and palliative care services operates across 12 Georgia counties. Case records suggest that the filing does not hint at closure; regular operations are expected to continue as normal. The proceedings will allow the provider to restructure its finances under court supervision.