Literature Review

[Saudi Arabia] Comparison of end-of-life care between patients with hematological malignancies versus solid tumors: A retrospective analysisJournal of Palliative Care; by Salma Almusaed, Kim Sadler, Walaa Abdulmutaali, Gassan Abudari, Steven Callaghan, Mahmoud Sroor, Muneerah Almutairi, Mohammed AlGhamdi, Muruf Zaid Alshalwah, Sameer Desai, Nessreen Abu Alsalhm, Khloud Alzain; 11/25While specialized palliative care (PC) is well-established for managing STs [solid tumors], its integration into HMs’ [hematological malignancies] care remains less common despite evidence of its benefits. The cohort consisted of 350 adult patients, of whom 86 (24.6%) had HMs and 264 (75.4%) had STs. Overall, HMs patients received more aggressive end-of-life care, including higher rates of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions (81.4% vs 17.8%), intubation (36% vs 8.3%), disease-modifying treatments (23% vs 3.8%), as well as more enteral feeding, dialysis, blood transfusions, and antimicrobial use. Their resuscitation discussions occurred closer to death (3 vs 16 days ... ). Additionally, HMs patients had fewer referrals to PC services (43% vs 79.2% ... ), and most of them died in the ICU (59.3% vs 18.2% ... ).

Hospice Coalition Questions and Answers: October 23, 2025Palmetto GBA; 12/10/2025Includes Coalition questions, Hospice Appeals Reports, and Hospice CAP Updates.

Is attending to clinician distress our job? Sara Johnson, Yael Schenker, & Anne KellyGeriPal; by Eric Widera, Alex Smith, Sara Johnson, Yael Schenker, Anne Kelly; 12/18/25Have you had one of those consults in which you’re thinking, huh, sounds like the patient’s goals are clear, it’s really that the clinician consulting us disagrees with those goals? To what extent is it our job as consultants to navigate, manage, or attend to clinician distress? What happens when that clinician distress leads eventually to conflict between the consulting clinician and the palliative care team? Today our guests Sara Johnson, Yael Schenker, & Anne Kelly discuss these issues.

CMS weighs advance care planning quality measure for nursing homesMcKnight's Long-Term Care News; by Kimberly Marselas;12/16/25Nursing homes could soon be measured on their ability to capture advance care planning documents for their patients, according to a federal publication. On Monday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its 2025 list of measures under consideration. Among 24 new or updated metrics pitched for a range of Medicare programs, just one would directly affect skilled nursing: Advance Care Planning.

Kawanzaa Day 1 "Umoja" = Unity Unity stresses the importance of togetherness for the family and the community, which is reflected in the African saying, "I Am We," or "I Am Because We Are."

Hospice created Christmas for patient in NovemberBBC News; by Harry Whitehead; 12/24/25 Guernsey's hospice recreated Christmas for a patient in November so she could enjoy a festive experience with her family before she died. Carrie Watson's mother Tracey De La Mare passed away just days after nurses at Les Bourgs Hospice made her wish of a final Christmas come true. Mrs. Watson said her family were "blown away" by the effort put in by hospice staff. 

[Canada] Posthumous effort helps 'Santa Al' raise $100,000 Pique News Magazine, British Columbia, Canada; by Roxanne Egan-Elliott; 12/24/25 With a white beard, rosy cheeks and a sparkle in his eye, Alan Paterson was known to many year-round as Santa Al. ... He started donating all proceeds from his Santa appearances to support Victoria Hospice’s services to show his gratitude for the compassionate care his wife, Sharon, received in 2009 at the end of her life. Over 15 years, Paterson raised more than $84,000 for the hospice. He wanted to bring that total to $100,000 this holiday season, but Paterson died on Sept. 29 at the age of 79. Paterson’s family continued his legacy of giving by inviting loved ones to honour his life with donations to the hospice to help him reach his goal. His fundraising pagerecently passed $100,000.

National Hospice Locator – Sixth quality score updateHospice Analytics blog; by Cordt T. Kassner; 10/14/25Based on feedback from hospice leaders nationwide, the sixth update of the hospice quality score calculation was uploaded on October 14, 2025. Launched in 2012, the National Hospice Locator helps individuals find hospice providers in their area and now averages 15,000+ monthly visits and searches. Beginning in 2023, the default sort order changed to prioritize quality scores, offering a more meaningful measure of excellence. This marks the first (and only) publicly available national ranking of all hospices by quality. Notably, nine hospices achieved a perfect score of 100 in this update. Congratulations:

The 4 Ms with Dr. Khai NguyenTeleios Collaborative Network - TCNtalks podcast; by Chris Comeaux, Khai Nguyen; 10/22/25In this episode of TCNtalks, host Chris Comeaux welcomes Dr. Khai Nguyen, a geriatrician and age-friendly care champion for care-at-home with CHAP. They discuss the 4Ms framework for age-friendly care, which includes what matters, mentation, medications, and mobility.

Validation of a claims-based algorithm for specialist palliative care delivery in metastatic cancerJournal of Pain and Symptom Management; by May Hua, Zhixin Yang, Ling Guo, J Brian Cassel, R Sean Morrison, Guohua Li; 11/25The lack of valid methods to identify specialist palliative care (PC) delivery in population-level data impedes comprehensive understanding of its use... We developed a claims-based algorithm to identify specialist PC, using a physician billing claim from a known PC clinician as the gold standard, retaining candidate variables with a positive predictive value (PPV) >60%... A simple algorithm can identify receipt of specialist PC care in Medicare claims for patients with metastatic cancer with reasonable accuracy.Publisher's Note: While this is a statistically sophisticated article, findings support use of the palliative care provider specialty code (Provider Specialty Code 17) and encounter for palliative care code (ICD-10 Z51.5) to identify specialist palliative care delivery in a specific population (Medicare beneficiaries with metastatic cancer claims).

Hospice - The time is now for additional integrity oversightJAMA Forum; by Joan M. Teno; 4/23...Leading hospice organizations are calling for more oversight. The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation, LeadingAge, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice, and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization provided a comprehensive set of recommendations to preserve the integrity of hospice. These organizations are returning to the historic mission of hospice: to improve care for dying persons and support for their family members... The recommendations put forth by the 4 hospice organizations are important. Further reforms also are needed.

Detecting and intervening against elder abuse: Tips for primary careMedscape; by Batya Swift Yasgur; 8/27/25Elder abuse is any action - or lack of appropriate action - occurring in a relationship where there is an expectation of trust that causes harm or distress to an older person, according to the World Health Organization. One sixth of community-dwelling older adults are affected by elder abuse, with rates climbing in the United States and globally... [This article explores:]