Literature Review

Clinicians are using AI without guidance. What are the risks?HealthcareBrew; by Maia Anderson; 7/21/26Unregulated AI use could leave healthcare institutions vulnerable to HIPAA violations, cyberattacks, experts say. There’s no longer a question of when AI will become a regular part of working as a clinician—it already is. A survey from healthcare AI platform Heidi Health found that 86% of clinicians surveyed use the technology daily or on a regular basis, often for administrative tasks like charting. However, more than 4 in 5 (83%) reported doing so without guidance from their employers. This could be leaving clinics, health systems, and other healthcare institutions vulnerable to HIPAA violations and cyberattacks, experts told Healthcare Brew.

Private equity’s joint venture takeover of nonprofit healthcare Private Equity Stakeholder Project; Report; 7/6/26 Behind nonprofit partnerships, private equity firms are building a growing footprint across hospitals, hospice, rehabilitation, and outpatient care. Over the past decade, private equity has dramatically expanded its presence across the healthcare system. While much of the public attention has focused on traditional acquisitions of hospitals, physician practices, nursing homes, and other providers, private equity firms are increasingly pursuing another strategy: joint ventures with nonprofit health systems. PESP’s new report examines how these partnerships have become an increasingly important avenue for private equity-backed healthcare companies to expand across hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, ambulatory surgery centers, hospice, home health, behavioral health, and other sectors.

National Alliance for Care at Home welcomes Denis Fleming Jr. as Chief Government Affairs Officer  National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA; Press Release; 7/23/26 The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) today announced longtime industry leader Denis Fleming Jr. will serve as Chief Government Affairs Officer effective August 10. Fleming is a distinguished government affairs leader bringing over two decades of experience spanning key leadership roles in Congress, with state executive bodies, and major home health and hospice companies. Most recently, Fleming served as Vice President of Federal Government Affairs with United Health Group after serving 8 years as Senior Vice President & Legislative Counsel, State and Federal Affairs at LHC Group, where he led federal and state advocacy for this national home health and hospice provider. 

Modern science has been a voyage into the unknown, with a lesson in humility waiting at every stop. ~ Carl Sagan

Hospice of Wichita Falls awarded grant for upcoming childhood grief awareness event KAUZ-6 CBS, Wichita Fall, TX; by Spencer R. Smith; 7/24/26 Hospice of Wichita Falls announced that they have been awarded a 2026 Grief Reach Grant. As part of the grant, Hospice of Wichita Falls will host Growing Through Grief: Advancing Compassionate Care for Grieving Children, a free professional symposium ... The grant was given to increase awareness of childhood grief and strengthen community support for grieving children and their families, and was funded by the New York Life Foundation and managed by the National Alliance for Children’s Grief. 

Pierce County woman says scammers stole $117K as husband enters hospice care Fox 13, Seattle, WA; by David Rose; 7/23/26 A Pierce County woman says she lost about $117,000 to an elaborate phone scam while caring for her husband in hospice, leaving her uncertain how she will pay her bills after the man she has cared for through years of declining health dies. Charlotte Tripp said the scam unfolded at what she describes as the worst possible time in her life. Her husband of 17 years, who has dementia, recently entered hospice care after suffering a rapid decline following hip surgery and a urinary tract infection. ... "Basically, he can go any day now," Tripp said. "I'm trying to concentrate more on my husband to give him the time he needs." Instead, she said she has spent hours dealing with banks, law enforcement and mounting financial problems after scammers convinced her to drain her accounts.

VITAS medical director: improve hospice referrals for cancer patients Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 7/16/26 Hospice utilization among some cancer patients is leveling off and slowing growth, but healthcare providers and medical educators can adopt certain strategies to move the needle. This is according to Dr. Ileana Leyva, regional medical director for VITAS Healthcare. ... Neuro-degenerative, lung and cardiac diseases are gaining more prominence among hospice diagnoses. In 2024, senile degeneration of the brain was the most common terminal diagnosis among Medicare decedents at 9%, followed by Alzheimer’s at 6%, according to the National Alliance for Care at Home. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease rounded out the top three at 4.2%. Lung cancer was the 11th most common diagnosis that year, at 2.1%, the highest rate for any form of cancer. Hospice News spoke with Leyva about the barriers that prevent cancer patients from accessing hospice sooner and what stakeholders can do to drive improvement.

Restaurant owner shelves Easter plans to fulfill dying man's last wish to feed his hospice nurses Daily Good; by Good News Network; 4/7/26 Frank Ozimek spent his final days in hospice care, but what occupied his mind wasn't his own suffering -- it was how to thank the nurses who had tended to him with such devotion. When his brother Ken struggled to find a restaurant open on Easter to fulfill Frank's wish to feed the hospice staff, Tommy Milani, owner of a local pizza shop, didn't hesitate: "Absolutely, whatever you need, Ken." Milani set aside his holiday plans and delivered pizzas to the entire nursing staff, completing a circle of care that began with strangers and ended with gratitude. In his last act, Frank found a way to say what perhaps mattered most -- that he had seen the kindness given to him, and wanted to give it back.  

“It wasn’t just a lyric — it was him” Their Life Song; personal story by Amber Gould, original music about her father by Johnny Warren; 7/15/26Grief doesn’t follow a timeline. Amber Gould knows this well. “There are little everyday moments that remind me of him,” she says. “Whether it’s a familiar place, a scent, or a memory that suddenly comes back, he’s still a part of my daily life. I couldn’t think of a better way to honor those memories and feel connected to him than through music.” That's where Johnny Warren and Their Life Song come in. After Amber responded to Johnny's "remembering" questions about her dad, Johnny--owner of Their Life Song--wrote a deeply personal song about him. Upon turning her memories into song, what Amber found wasn’t closure — it was connection. Editor's Note: Click here for Johnny's tender song about Amber's dad, "The River You Showed Me."

HHS pausing $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California, Minnesota over fraud LI; by Mary Chastain; 7/21/26 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have paused more than $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota due to fraud concerns. “That includes more than $887 million for California and over $200 million for Minnesota,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at a press conference. “If those states want that money, they need to provide documentation that these payments are legitimate.”

“I wish to be in the same room as my wife so I can hold her hand”: CalvertHealth grants husband’s final wishThe Baynet, Calvert County, MD; by CalvertHealth; 7/19/26 It was one final wish Phillip “Phil” Pfanschmidt shared after learning he had terminal cancer. Just days earlier, his wife of more than 66 years, Joyce “Joy” Pfanschmidt, had entered hospice care at CalvertHealth Medical Center. Now, Phil had entered hospice as well. When members of the palliative care team asked about his wishes, he didn’t hesitate. He wanted to be with Joy.Caregivers across CalvertHealth worked together to make that wish a reality. Phil was reunited with Joy, and the couple spent precious moments together, hand in hand. Less than two hours later, Joy peacefully passed away with her hand resting on Phil’s arm. ...In his autobiography, Born to Live, Phil reflected on what mattered most. “For the last 64 years [as of 2024], every morning when I wake up and every evening before I go to sleep, I give thanks for the woman sleeping beside me.” ... Phil passed away on Friday, July 10, just nine days after Joy.

Toward home cancer care—Reducing time toxicity for the right patients with prostate cancerJAMA Network Open; by David-Dan Nguyen, Bruce L. Jacobs; 6/26Cancer care imposes a substantial burden, not only through the diagnosis itself and treatment-related adverse effects but also through the time spent traveling to appointments, waiting, and receiving care. Even in advanced stages of prostate cancer, many patients live for years with a chronic disease trajectory that requires ongoing monitoring, repeated visits, and long-term systemic therapy. Bange and colleagues ask whether some of this burden can be alleviated by moving elements of care from the cancer center into patients’ homes through an enhanced telehealth model for patients receiving androgen deprivation therapy. Their intervention is distinctive in combining several strategies that have individually shown promise, including paired telehealth visits with home-based phlebotomy, remote blood pressure monitoring, and at-home injections. Their central finding is encouraging: this model appeared both feasible and highly acceptable to patients and clinicians.

Sunday newsletters focus on headlines and top read stories of the last week (in order) - enjoy!