Literature Review

Healthcare doesn’t need forward deployed engineers. It needs forward deployed operators. HIT Consultant; by Frederik Mueller; 9/22/26 The forward deployed engineer model, embraced across enterprise technology, is built on a seductive assumption: that the gap between a technology’s potential and its adoption is primarily a technical gap. A missing integration. A misconfigured workflow. A feature not yet built. Fix the code, and the organization will follow. In most industries, that assumption is partially right. In healthcare, it is almost entirely wrong. In part, healthcare organizations contribute to the problem because most evaluate technology vendors the same flawed way. They audit the roadmap, assess the integrations, and negotiate the contract. They rarely ask enough how the vendor will be embedded in their operations after go-live, and what discipline that ongoing partnership requires. 

Hospice of South Texas dedicates new building The Schulenburg Sticker, Schulenburg, Fayette County, TX; by News Staff; 9/22/26 Hospice of South Texas celebrated an exciting milestone with the dedication and blessing of a new support services building on the campus of the Dornburg Center of Compassion in Victoria on Wednesday, Aug. 26. Officiating were area pastor and board president Herb Beyer and Bishop Brendan Cahill of the Catholic Diocese of Victoria.

Beyond the book: How stories help shape future physicians University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV); by Doug Criss; 9/22/26 Katie Houk builds a medical humanities collection that gives students at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine space to reflect, create, and better understand the people they will care for. ... “Medical humanities is the integration of the humanistic fields into medical training,” Houk says. A large part of the work involves narrative medicine: reading and discussing fictional or true stories to build empathy for patients, connect physicians with one another, and encourage reflection on the physician-patient relationship and the profession itself.

Nothing will work unless you do. ~ Maya Angelou

AI can’t replace this: the leadership advantage that’s more human than ever | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Dr. Andrea Hollingsworth; 9/23/26 In Part One, Chris Comeaux welcomes Dr. Andrea Hollingsworth, founder and CEO of Hollingsworth Consulting and author of The Compassion Advantage: How Top Leaders Build More Humanizing Workplaces, for a timely conversation about compassion, vulnerability, and what it means to lead well in an increasingly AI-driven world. Andrea argues that while AI can solve problems, organize information, and simulate empathy, it cannot genuinely suffer with another person—and therefore cannot offer true compassion.  For healthcare and hospice leaders working alongside people experiencing stress, grief, uncertainty, and change, that distinction matters. 

Establishing an AI policy: a comprehensive white paper for life sciences teamsSakara Digital; by Amie Harpe; 9/21/26Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly evolved from a niche technology to a foundational element of business operations across all sectors. ... This white paper provides a comprehensive, narrative-driven guide for business and compliance leaders ...  Special attention is given to the unique regulatory, ethical, and operational considerations in life sciences and healthcare, with tangible guidance for governance, validation, training, monitoring, and audit strategies.

CMS cracks down on fraud, waste, and abuse in the Federal Health Insurance Marketplace® CMS Newsroom; Press Release; 9/22/26 As part of the ongoing efforts of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud to crush fraud in the healthcare system and protect taxpayer dollars, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking aggressive, sweeping actions within the Federal Marketplace — canceling approximately 315,000 unauthorized enrollments covering more than 760,000 individuals, which is expected to result in a return of roughly $2.2 billion in taxpayer-funded subsidies.  

URI nursing students get direct experience in hospice, palliative care The University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI; by Patrick Luce; 9/22/26 The first group of University of Rhode Island College of Nursing students have begun clinical rotations in hospice and palliative care, as the college officially begins a formal academic-practice partnership with HopeHealth aimed at advancing clinical education, training, and professional opportunities in the field. Eight undergraduate students began advance practice experience at the Providence-based nonprofit hospice and palliative care center Sept. 10 under the faculty supervision of Assistant Professor Daina Worcester. ... The goal is to foster professional growth, improve patient care, and strengthen the academic-clinical partnership between the college and healthcare facilities around the region.

Finger Lakes Nurse Honor Guard gives late nurses a final tribute Democrat and Chronicle; by Mike Murphy; 9/21/26 As Ruth Benjamin was getting ready to retire after more than 50 years in nursing, two of her colleagues passed away. ... Nursing is a calling and a way of life, Benjamin said by way of explanation, and many like her and her colleague gave everything they had to their profession. ... After some research, Benjamin founded the Finger Lakes Nurse Honor Guard, which celebrates its third anniversary in October. The all-volunteer honor guard ensures that late nurses are recognized, in a similar way that honor guards pay tribute to late military or first responders. ... The service is free.Editor's Note: Though this article is behind a paywall, you can learn more about this inspirational Finger Lakes Nurse Honor Guard from their website.

We've officially reached that time of year where it's sweater weather in the morning, but by midday you die of heatstroke.

Labor Day auction raises more than $1 million Hospice & Community Care, Lancaster, PA; online letter to their sponsors, volunteers, and community; retrieved from the internet 9/22/26 Thanks to your incredible generosity, we are proud to share that more than $1 million was raised to support hospice and palliative care, bereavement services, and grief support programs for the thousands of patients and families served by Hospice & Community Care each year. This remarkable achievement reflects the compassion and commitment of our community. Because of you, we can continue our mission of helping patients and families live better with serious illness through end of life. From all of us at Hospice & Community Care, thank you for making a difference.

We are all ignorant. We are just ignorant about different things. ~ Will Rogers

Understanding low hospice utilization among ESRD patients0Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 9/21/260Hospice care is underutilized among end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, often due to systemic factors. More than 831,000 Americans are living with kidney failure, according to the National Institutes of Health. In 2023 alone, new cases totaled 131,564. Yet, end-stage renal disease patients in 2024 represented 1.3% of Medicare decedents who elected the Medicare Hospice Benefit, the National Alliance for Care at Home reported. This was 24,336 patients.0Concerns over access to dialysis is a major contributor to the low utilization, according to Compassus Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kurt Merkelz.03330The prospect of giving up dialysis deters many ESRD patients from entering hospice. Those that do may come to hospice very late because once they stop dialysis the patient will have approximately one week to live, Merkelz said.