Literature Review

CMS clarifies hospice revocations, face-to-face encounters McKnights Home Care; by Suzy Frisch; 3/24/26 If a hospice patient is discharged from care or has their benefits revoked, they do not have to complete a waiting period to arrange for new care, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which provided such clarifications earlier this month. If a hospice patient is discharged from care or has their benefits revoked, they do not have to complete a waiting period to arrange for new care, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which provided such clarifications earlier this month. 

Medicare Advantage ‘working’ for seniors, but not for taxpayers, experts say: Penn LDI panel cites costs for enrollees alongside billions in overpayments and systemic gaming Penn LDI - Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics; by Hoag Levins; 3/23/26 In response to the question “Is Medicare Advantage Working?” posed in a University of Pennsylvania panel discussion, two top experts concurred that the program is “working” in one narrow but powerful sense: It delivers more appealing coverage to many seniors, especially those with modest incomes. But it is not “working” in the sense originally promised by policymakers, because it is not saving public money and has encouraged a range of payment distortions, coding games, marketing excesses, and utilization-management conflicts.

Gone from my sight: Barbara Karnes on what happens in the final days of life | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Barbara Karnes; 3/25/26 Drawing from over four decades of bedside experience, Barbara shares how Hospice Care began as a movement outside the traditional medical model, rooted not in treating disease, but in caring for people and their families during life’s most vulnerable moments.  Her insights challenge modern healthcare to return to a more human-centered approach—one that prioritizes presence, education, and compassion.

* CEO, Hildegard House, nonprofit, Louisville, KY

Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds. ~ "Osho" / Rajneesh.

AI is coming for admin jobs, CFOs sayBecker's Hospital Review; by Andrew Cass; 3/24/26 Artificial intelligence is expected to disproportionately affect routine, clerical and administrative roles, while having a limited near-term impact on overall employment, The Wall Street Journal reported March 24.  The Journal cited findings from a working paper recently published on the National Bureau of Economic Research website. The study, produced with economists from the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Richmond, surveyed about 750 CFOs across multiple industries between late 2025 and early 2026. Five things to know: ...

Mercy Hospice House reopens after five month hiatus Durango Herald, Durango, CO; by Elizabeth Pond; 3/21/26 The Mercy Hospice House, an end of life care wing of Mercy Hospital, officially reopened this week after a five-month-long closure, according to a Monday news release by Mercy’s owner, CommonSpirit Health. The hospital wing temporarily closed because of a change in outpatient service ownership and a required licensing review, a CommonSpirit spokesperson told The Durango Herald in November. The facility transferred leadership of outpatient services to its national entity, CommonSpirit Health at Home, on a for-profit basis in October, with inpatient ownership remaining under its original regional leadership and nonprofit model.

3 potential policy options for high-acuity palliative services Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 3/24/26 The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is considering new policy options to expand access to high-acuity palliative services for hospice patients. The treatments under exploration include palliative radiation, chemotherapy, dialysis and blood transfusions. Though these treatments can aid in palliation, patients often do not receive them due to high costs and questions as to whether they fall within the scope of the Medicare Hospice Benefit. To identify potential approaches, MedPAC conducted a literature review, stakeholder interviews, site visits and data analyses. 

Oversight Committee launches investigation into rampant taxpayer fraud in California hospice programs U.S. Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Washington, DC; Press Release; 3/23/26Following alarming reports that California officials failed to properly safeguard federal funds, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Oversight Committee Republicans today launched an investigation into rampant taxpayer fraud in California’s hospice programs. In a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom, the lawmakers emphasized that the Newsom administration has been aware of state audit reports of hospice fraud for at least four years but has failed to prevent or detect it and has enabled hospice providers to defraud the American taxpayer and exploit vulnerable patients. The Oversight Committee is now requesting documents and communications regarding California’s oversight and internal controls to detect and prevent fraud for its federally funded hospice programs.

Society of Critical Care Medicine 2026 Guidelines on the Care and Management of Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Patients at the End of Life Pediatric Critical Care Medicine; by Sabrina Derrington, Elizabeth G Broden Arciprete, Matthew C Lin, Simon J W Oczkowski, Amanda Alladin, Uchenna E Anani, Amanda K Borchik, Cassandra A Collins, Claudia Delgado-Corcoran, Mindy J Dickerman, Christopher G Harrod, Natalia Henner, Alexander A Kon, Mithya Lewis-Newby, Blyth T Lord, Ashley-Anne Masters, Sarah McCarthy, Katie M Moynihan, Sara M Munoz-Blanco, Lauren Rissman, Kathryn E Roberts, Amy B Schlegel, Ashleigh Schopen, Linda B Siegel, Harriett Swasey, Sarah E Wawrzynski, David J Zorko, Danielle D DeCourcey; 3/20/26 online ahead of print Objectives: To develop and provide evidence-based recommendations for EOL care and management of critically ill neonatal and pediatric patients and their families. Results: The [21-member multidisciplinary panel of experts] generated five conditional recommendations and one good practice statement, focused on advance care planning, pediatric palliative care consultation and education, systematic symptom management, bereavement support, and health equity in EOL care.

Do not wait for someone else to come and speak for you. It’s you who can change the world. ~ Malala YousafzaiCelebrating Women's History Month

Facing loss & cancer: A daughter’s dual grief  Time.News; by Ethan Brooks; 3/22/26 ... We hadn’t told the kids yet. There was nothing definitive to say, only a growing dread. I braced myself to project a semblance of cheerfulness when Molly and Henry returned from their tournament, but it proved unnecessary. My sister called with news that eclipsed everything: our father was dying. Both our parents, long divorced, were in hospice, on opposite coasts. My mother’s decline had begun in June, but my father’s was swift, a mere week in the making and we hadn’t anticipated him going first.

50 years ago, Karen Quinlan’s coma sparked the movement for patients’ rights near the end of life The Conversation; by Kalpana Jain; 3/23/26 March 31, 2026, marks 50 years since a landmark decision that shapes American patients’ rights every day: the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling in the case of Karen Ann Quinlan, who had suffered an irreversible coma. Quinlan’s case established for the first time that decisions near the end of life should be made by patients and families, not by doctors and hospitals alone. As a bioethicist, I have taught and written extensively about the profound impact the Quinlan case has had on law, bioethics and the pursuit of death with dignity. A decade after the Quinlan case, New Jersey created a Bioethics Commission to study advancing health care technology in light of the decision’s principles. The commission’s proposed legislation establishing advance directives was enacted on July 11, 1991. I was privileged to lead this project, as staff to the commission. Today, all 50 states have advance directive laws that allow competent adults to plan ahead and put their wishes for end-of-life care in writing.