Literature Review

Achieving goal-concordant care with goals of care consultations in the Emergency Department American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Stacy Nilsen, PhD, RN, Diane Wintz, MD, Kelly Wright, MSN, MBA, RN, Debra Poeltler, PhD, MPH, RN, Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women and Newborns, San Diego, CA; 10/24/25 Introduction: Time constraints may be prohibitive to adequate goals of care (GOC) discussions and could delay critical decision making in urgent or emergent situations. ... Method: A retrospective record review was conducted for patients 65 and older at a single community hospital between January and December 2023. Included patients had at least one GOC documented discussion with a nursing team called Advanced Illness Management (AIM) and were admitted or placed in observation. ... 3377 patients met the inclusion criteria. ... Conclusions: There were positive findings in LOS, ICU, and cost with AIM consultation within 24 hours of presenting to the ED, when compared to waiting for a later consultation, supporting consideration of forward-placement of GOC discussion.

New guidance offered for responsible AI use in health care - American Heart Association Science Advisory American Heart Association; by Newsroom; 11/10/25 Published in the Association’s flagship journal, Circulation, the advisory, “Pragmatic Approaches to the Evaluation and Monitoring of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare,” introduces a pragmatic, risk-based framework for evaluating and monitoring artificial intelligence (AI) tools in cardiovascular and stroke care. It builds on prior published AI frameworks to identify critical gaps in current practices. 

Inside Compassus’ 2-pronged plan to expand Providence joint venture Home Health Care News; by Morgan Gonzales; 11/11/25 The joint venture between Compassus and not-for-profit health system Providence is set to expand through two key growth tactics. ... For the first pillar, the joint venture aims to expand through multiple sources within Providence, including case management, discharge planning, hospital-based clinicians and Providence’s ambulatory environment. ... Its second growth strategy looks outside of the Providence ecosystem for referrals, whether from long-term care facilities, skilled nursing facilities or physicians working directly with patients. 

Reducing moral distress through interdisciplinary collaboration: the impact of a weekly palliative care and neonatology conference BMC Palliative Care; by Kirthi Devireddy, Riddhi Shukla, Rachel Boren, James E Slaven, Rebecca A Baker, Jayme D Allen, Karen M Moody; 11/11/25 Conclusion: A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and palliative care-weekly-collaborative conference resulted in significantly decreased moral distress among NICU staff. Qualitative data revealed that both prolonging life with life-sustaining medical therapies (LSMTs) and ending it by withdrawing LSMTs in the context of prognostic uncertainty and institutional constraints creates significant moral distress among staff. Palliative care and NICU programs should consider implementing regular interdisciplinary collaborative conferences to address this distress.

The human cost of health care automation MedPageToday's KevinMD.com; by Christie Mulholland; 11/8/25 AI is rolling out in medicine faster than most of us can process. Ambient scribes documenting visits. Clinical decision support algorithms. Automated prior authorizations. The promises are compelling: reduced clerical burden, more face-time with patients, less burnout. I wanted this. As a palliative care doctor and director of physician well-being at my institution, ... [when] AI tools promised relief, I advocated for them. ... 

Top health system divestments of 2025 Levin Associates; Dylan Sammut; 11/11/25 Throughout 2025, several major health systems have been focusing on downsizing their portfolios by divesting hospitals and other lines of business. Some transactions were from systems seeking to pay down debt, others resulted from bankruptcy proceedings and a number from systems exiting non-core markets. In our LevinPro HC database, we have tracked more than 20 divestments from health systems across various sectors, such as Hospitals, Home Health & Hospice and Physician Medical Groups. Here is a selection of the top health System divestments of 2025 so far.  

Columbus Community Hospital unveils advance health care directives toolkit Columbus Community Hospital, Columbus, NE; News Release; 11/4/25 When you’re planning for future health care decisions, you need to talk to your loved ones about values, priorities and the quality of life you want. To help you in this process, Columbus Community Hospital’s ethics committee created an advance health care directives tool kit. ... This toolkit does not replace an attorney’s services; rather, it is a way for people to start thinking about what they want. ... Each toolkit contains the following resources:

A new treasure arrives to downtown Menomonie Volume One, Wisconsin; 11/11/25 ... Adoray’s Treasures from the Heart (521 2nd St. E, Menomonie) — the newest addition to Adoray Home Health & Hospice’s fundraising thrift stores — opened its doors earlier this summer. In just a few short months, this second-hand boutique has captured the hearts of community members, Amber Bettinger-Lytle, Adoray’s director of marketing and development said. “Every item that comes through our doors tells a story,” Bettinger-Lytle shared. “When someone donates a household item or buys a sweater, that act of kindness ripples outward, helping us bring care, compassion and hope to someone in need.”Editor's Note: This article's tone and wording moves it from a typical sales promotion to meaning and purpose, linking past, present and future. 

Pidgie Chapman marks nearly four decades as a hospice volunteer The Pilot; by Maggie Boncurrter; 11/7/25 The ladies weren’t exactly Thelma and Louise of big screen fame, but they probably looked very similar driving through the Moore County community of Addor. FirstHealth Hospice volunteer Pidgie Chapman had a patient decades ago who loved to dress up and wear fancy hats. Chapman had quite the chapeau collection, so she presented her patient with a giant, floppy hat while donning a similar one. “In those days we could drive our patients around,” said Chapman, who has been a hospice volunteer since 1986. “We got in the car and visited all her friends – in our hats. She was absolutely delighted.” ... Chapman is one of the area’s most seasoned hospice volunteers, starting her career soon after the philosophy of care took hold in Moore County. 

Avera Medical Minute: Hospice care provides support and compassion for patients and families Dakota News Now, Sioux Falls, SD; by Dakota News Now staff; 11/10/25 Hospice care can help patients and their families focus on comfort and quality of life when treatment for an illness is no longer effective. Support from staff can come in a variety of ways, including medical, emotional, and spiritual. In this Avera Medical Minute, one family explains how choosing hospice for their loved one turned their final days into cherished moments together. ...

HPNA announces 2026 award recipients Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA); Press Release; 11/10/25 The Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA) congratulates the following individuals on being selected as 2026 HPNA Award recipients.

Doves & Diamonds event draws record crowd Beloit Daily News, Beloit, WI ; by Clint Wolf; 11/9/25 A record crowd turned out Saturday for the 21st Annual Doves & Diamonds Gala event at the Eclipse Center. Tami Scarpetta, executive director of foundation, marketing and community relations for Beloit Health System, said 354 guests had registered to attend the event, which is the largest fundraising event for Beloit Regional Hospice each year. ... “We usually raise about $100,000 each year. We are hoping to top that this year,” Scarpetta said. She said, before the event even kicked off, the bourbon raffle already had raised $12,000 in pre-sales.