Literature Review

Palliative Care ECHO on health system strengthening: Advancing global collaboration and integration ehospice; by Mark Stoltenberg, Clayton Richards, Chris Piromalli; 3/24/25The World Health Organization (WHO) Working Group on Palliative Care has introduced an innovative digital initiative utilising the ECHO Model to enhance global collaboration in palliative care. Officially launched on March 5, 2025, this programme will facilitate knowledge exchange and promote best practices for the integration of palliative care into health systems worldwide. The ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) Model connects healthcare professionals globally in virtual communities of practice to support contextualised implementation of best-practice care through mentorship and guided practice.  [Continue reading ...]

HHS Job Cuts: FDA, CDC, NIH and CMS impacted amidst significant restructurings JD Supra; by Cate Baskin, James Kim, Stuart Pape, Angela Powers, Ryan Thurber; 3/31/25 On March 27, 2025, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a “dramatic restructuring” that will result in a reduction in agency workforce combined with significant internal restructuring. ... In connection with this restructuring, the Administration announced the following changes:

Healthcare data breaches average $11M per incident: Report Becker's Health IT; by Naomi Diaz; 3/28/25 Cyberattacks have hit 78% of U.S. healthcare organizations, with the average cost of a breach soaring to $11 million per incident — largely due to ransomware attacks — according to a March 28 report from Black Book Market Research. Black Book Market Research, a technology survey organization, released findings from its first-quarter 2025 Global Healthcare Cybersecurity Survey, which gathered responses from more than 1,200 healthcare administrators worldwide. Participants were sourced through LinkedIn professional groups. The study revealed a sharp rise in cybersecurity threats targeting EHRs and patient data. [Continue reading ...] 

Transforming healthcare:  Hospice in the news, March 2025  Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); pod/videocast by Chris Comeaux with Cordt Kassner; 4/2/25 In this episode of TCNtalks, Chris Comeaux and Dr. Cordt Kassner, Publisher of Hospice & Palliative Care Today and CEO and Founder of Hospice Analytics, leverage their data and extensive experience to identify key Hospice headlines, articles, research, and social media posts that are driving change and transforming end-of-life care and healthcare in America. They share personal experiences with hospice care, emphasizing the importance of social work and discussing the challenges of healthcare reimbursement.  The conversation also touches on MedPAC recommendations, new social media trends, and highlights from recent research articles. 

What’s next for COOs? Becker's Hospital Review; by Kelly Gooch; 3/26/25 The health system C-suite continues to evolve, as organizations streamline leadership by eliminating or combining roles, and by restructuring leadership teams amid industry headwinds. Against this backdrop, the COO role is also changing, with leaders taking on more strategic responsibilities while continuing to oversee day-to-day operations across their systems. In conversations with Becker’s, Eric Stevens, COO of Roseville, Calif.-based Adventist Health, and Rick Majzun, president and COO of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, discussed how they are balancing this growing scope and where the COO role fits in the modern C-suite. [Continue reading ...] 

Niagara Hospice to offer free community presentation for National Healthcare Decisions Day Niagara Frontier Publications; Press Release; 3/28/25 April 16 is National Healthcare Decisions Day, which is a day set aside to educate and empower individuals to discuss and document their end-of-life health care wishes. Niagara Hospice invites the community to attend the free presentation, “Advance Care Planning: Advance Directives for Health Care,” ... Advance care planning includes advance directives like health care proxies, do not resuscitate (DNR) orders, and living wills. Advance directives help to ensure end-of-life care wishes are followed if one is unable to make necessary decisions for themselves. [Continue reading ...]Editor's note: For more information about National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD), explor The Conversation Project, at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. 

Study raises questions about GUIDE model’s helpfulness for caregivers of loved ones with dementia McKnights Home Care; by Adam Healy; 4/1/25 The Guiding an Improve Dementia Experience may need to be fine-tuned to better serve caregivers of those living with dementia, according to a new study published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia. The researchers identified 565 older adults and 555 caregivers eligible for GUIDE using data from the 2022 National Health and Aging Trends Study and National Study of Caregiving. They found that approximately half of GUIDE-eligible people with dementia received care from two or more caregivers, and about a third of these caregivers reported experiencing high caregiving strain. [Continue reading ...] 

Palliative care in the intensive care unit: An integrative review of intensive care unit health care professionals' views and experiences Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing (DCCN); by Berit Lindahl and Susan Kirk; May-Jun 2025 ... Our findings suggest there is variation in how palliative care in the ICU is conceptualized and interpreted. Intensive care unit professionals need enhanced competencies and training to develop their confidence in providing palliative care and improve role clarity. Such training should focus on serious illness conversations with patients/families and interdisciplinary teamwork. Integration of palliative consultants into the ICU could be further developed.

Mass layoffs hit workers at HHS; sweeping cuts extend to CDC, NIH, FDA: Recap USA Today; by Sarah D. Wire, Josh Meyer, Bart Jansen, Ken Alltucker, Cybele Mayes-Osterman, Eduardo Cuevas, Sudiksha Kochi, Adrianna Rodriguez and Terry Collins; 4/1/25Mass layoffs began Tuesday at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at the Food and Drug Administration, the first steps in a plan to cut 10,000 jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services. The department responsible for overseeing protection for Americans' health, food and drug supplies and Medicare and Medicaid is also closing its internal agencies that are focused on older adults and people with disabilities. It's also getting rid of its offices tackling HIV and improving minority health. Staff had to present their badges at the building entrance and those who had been fired were given a ticket and told to return home. More than 100,000 federal workers have already lost their jobs in the last two months as part of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's efforts to shrink staffing levels in federal departments and agencies. Tens of thousands more are expected as more agencies implement their reduction in force, or RIF, plans in the coming weeks.

If we assume we've arrived, we stop searching; we stop developing. ~ Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell

St. Croix Hospice opens 10 new locations in first quarter 2025 The LaGrange Daily News, Oakdale, MN; PR Newswire; 4/1/25 St. Croix Hospice continued its growth in the first quarter of 2025 with the opening of 10 additional branches across five states. The new locations include:

[UK] Play 'humanizes' pediatric care and should be key feature of a child-friendly NHS, report suggests Medical Xpress; by University of Cambridge; 3/30/25 The report, by University of Cambridge academics for the charity "Starlight," calls for play, games and playful approaches to be integrated into a "holistic" model of children's health care—one that acknowledges the emotional and psychological dimensions of good health, alongside its physical aspects.  ... Both internationally and in the UK, health systems have, in recent decades, increasingly promoted play in pediatric health care. There is a growing understanding that making health care more child-friendly can reduce stress and positively improve younger patients' experiences. Despite this recognition, play often remains undervalued and inconsistently integrated across health care contexts. For the first time, the report compiles evidence from over 120 studies to make the case for its more systematic incorporation. [Continue reading ...] Editor's note: Click here to access the report, Playing with children's health?