Literature Review

When a hospice patient comes to the hospitalICD10monitor; by Tiffany Ferguson, LMSW, CMAC, ACM; 8/17/26 A recent question was posed related to “What happens when a hospice enrolled patient returns to the hospital for emergency or hospital care?” Aside from the initial questions such as “did we even know this patient was on hospice when they roll through the emergency room, or why did they come back to the hospital? The next question may evolve to the following: is the treatment still involving care congruent with the patient’s hospice care plan or has the patient/representative elected to revoke their hospice services? Understanding these distinctions is increasingly important for case management, utilization review, registration, revenue cycle, and especially hospital clinical teams.

Dementia coach Jeannine Forrest of Through the Forrest recently featured on Close Up Radio EIN Presswire, Chicago, IL; by Close Up Television & Radio; 8/17/26 Jeannine Forrest still remembers the moment her mother looked at her in her own home and said, “I’m living in a house of strangers.” At that moment, as a registered nurse, she realized she was not prepared to understand what her mother was truly experiencing. That realization became her life’s work. More than 30 years later, Forrest is a dementia coach and founder of Through the Forrest, where she works directly with family caregivers. ... Forrest explains that dementia shows up differently in every person, and is much more than memory loss alone. Her approach rests on one idea: When families understand what is happening, have a plan, and feel supported, life can become less frightening and more meaningful for both the person living with dementia and the caregiver.

The art and skill of caring for terminally ill patients in clinical research and beyondClinical Leader; by Kamila Novak; 8/14/26

Coastal Corvette Club gives back to Delaware HospiceCape Gazette, Lewes, DE; by Ellen McIntyre; 8/16/26 Coastal Corvette Club of Delaware presented an $8,400 check to Delaware Hospice during an Aug. 3 meeting at Big Oyster Brewery in Milford. The donation, which the club raised through its annual Corvette Extravaganza car show at i.g. Burton Lewes Automall June 13, will directly offset the cost of hospice patient care. "Every dime that we bring in is a huge help," said Delaware Hospice Director of Philanthropy Peggy Dolby, who accepted the check on the hospice's behalf. "You guys benefit us at the highest level, [and] it doesn't go unnoticed."

4 things healthcare leaders should do before their next AI rollout Forbes; by Amanda Eisel; 7/31/26 ​Talk to enough leaders across healthcare right now and you'll hear the same pattern. Someone raises the topic of AI. The room leans forward. Pilots are funded and launched. Six months later, the honest postmortem says some version of the same thing: The technology worked, but the adoption didn't. The gap is human, not technical. And in healthcare, where sensitive data and regulated workflows raise the stakes on every decision, that gap doesn’t just slow a rollout. It costs trust that takes years to rebuild. Healthcare doesn’t need more AI. It needs a people-led strategy that comes before the technology decision, not after it. ...

Dad demands answers after daughter dies of rare cancer: why are so many kids getting sick in this community? (exclusive)People; by Wendy Grossman Kantor; 8/14/26Lilly Dalton grew up a few miles from Ladera Ranch, where at least a dozen young people and children have been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma. Three days after graduating from college at Loyola University in New Orleans, Lilly Dalton told her parents her stomach hurt. Doctors found a tumor on the 21-year-old’s liver and she was diagnosed with a very rare, one-of-a-kind cancer. Lilly was raised in Laguna Niguel, a city in Orange County, Calif. — just six miles from Ladera Ranch, where 12 children and young adults have been diagnosed with another rare cancer, Ewing sarcoma. “That’s not a coincidence,” says her father, Brian Dalton, 49, who now lives in Meridian, Idaho, with Lilly’s mom, Nicole Dalton, 50. 

Strategic leadership and the future of corporate learning an in-depth analysis of modern workforce development trends Recruit-Talent.com | Employee Training & Development; 8/14/26The landscape of corporate learning and development (L&D) is currently undergoing a fundamental transformation, shifting from a traditional "cost-center" model toward a core strategic function essential for organizational survival. In the latest installment of the Chief Learning Officer’s “Learning Insights” series, a high-level examination of this evolution reveals how visionary leaders are navigating the complexities of workforce development in an era defined by rapid technological advancement and shifting employee expectations. ... Essential Qualities of the Modern Learning Leader ... Key leadership traits identified by industry experts include:

How SNF upper payment limits can hurt hospices Hospice News; by Brandyn Simmons; 8/17/2 When it comes to healthcare — especially if it involves Medicare or Medicaid — one solution can lead to new problems. The Upper Payment Limit (UPL) program is no exception to this rule. Across the spectrum in healthcare, Medicaid reimbursements have typically been inadequate in covering all expenses for patient care. This is where the UPL comes in. Under this initiative, providers such as skilled nursing facilities (SNF) can receive a gap payment through Medicare to make up the difference. While this is a boon for SNFs, this can become a major headache for many hospice companies across the United States. ...

Who should palliative care see? Diane Meier, Bob Arnold, and Justin Sanders GeriPal; by Alex Smith; 8/13/26 As Diane Meier remarks to start today’s podcast, palliative care has come a long way from the days when we were the “brink of death” consult. We’re seeing patients earlier and earlier in the course of illness.  In fact, the evidence base for specialist palliative care is arguably stronger in the outpatient setting than the inpatient setting.  In some ways, as Eric remarked, we are a victim of our own success. We’ve pushed on the boundaries of seeing patients earlier in the course of illness, we’ve demonstrated remarkable value to our colleagues and health systems: now they want us to see more and more patients, with conditions we would not have previously considered core to palliative care practice. Our guests modeled respectful disagreement, and we were somewhat surprised that there was more agreement than we expected.  

Reports from Duke University describe recent advances in managed care (the South had the lowest rates of hospice and palliative medicine-certified providers in the Us, 2024): managed care Insurance Newsnet; by Staff; 8/13/26 A new study on Managed Care is now available. According to news reporting originating in Durham, North Carolina, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “To improve access to care for serious illness, policy makers need evidence on how workforce capacity aligns with the need for palliative care. This study evaluated the palliative care workforce and policy environments at the state level, using a new data source: the 2024 Center to Advance Palliative Care’s comprehensive Serious Illness Scorecard.” Funders for this research include US Department of Veterans Affairs, Duke University, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Durham Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discover and Practice Transformation (ADAPT) at the Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System. Read the study here.

DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division announces priorities ReedSmith; by Scot T. Hasselman, Selina P. Coleman, Matthew K. Loughran; 8/14/26 In an August 13 memo, Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald set forth the priorities of the Department of Justice (DOJ) National Fraud Enforcement Division that will be focused primarily on criminal public benefits fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars. In the health care space, the primary targets in include home health agencies and hospice providers, as well as pharmacists and physicians who may be involved in drug diversion. ... The McDonald memo details some of the efforts that the division will focus on when attempting to combat health care fraud. According to the memo, approximately 3 to 10 percent of all health care spending is the result of fraud. ... While the McDonald memo has limited details, it breaks down four other specific categories of fraud that the division will seek to prosecute.

Why “strong operators” struggle when they step into leadership? Community Health Accreditation Partner (CHAP); by Jan Sweat; 8/14/26 In 1992, a student asked Steve Jobs what the most important thing he had learned was. The room went quiet. Jobs sat there thinking for more than twenty seconds before answering. Then he shared a lesson that has become one of the most powerful leadership insights I’ve ever heard: “I now take a longer-term view on people. In other words, when I see something not being done right, my first reaction isn’t to go fix it. It’s to say, we’re building a team here and we’re going to do great stuff for the next decade, not just the next year. And so what do I need to do to help so that the person that’s screwing up learns versus how do I fix the problem?” That quote perfectly captures the challenge many healthcare leaders face when they move from being a strong operator to leading a team.   

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. ~ George Saunders