Literature Review

National Alliance CEO Steve Landers on hospices’ top policy priorities Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 11/6/25Medicare advantage and telehealth are key hospice policy priorities for the National Alliance for Care at Home. On the home health front, the organization is also embroiled in efforts to stave off proposed payment and Medicaid cuts. The Alliance came into being last year with the merger between the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the National Association for Home Care & Hospice. Hospice News spoke with Alliance CEO Dr. Steven Landers about how the two legacy organizations are integrating, the hospice public policy landscape and how providers can get involved at a grass roots level.

VNA Care's Heroes in Health Care raises $215k for patient care service Patch, Arlington, MA; by Deboarh Corkum; 11/5/25VNA Care, the first organized visiting nurse association in the United States, raised $215,000 for patient care services during the annual Heroes in Health Care Gala at the Mandarin Oriental, Boston. Heroes in Health Care is VNA Care’s signature fundraising event in support of essential funding for home health and hospice care for patients and their families across Massachusetts.

The future of hospice care: Opportunities and challenges – top news stories October 2025 Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Cordt Kassner; 11/5/25 In this episode of TCN Talks, Chris Comeaux and Cordt Kassner discuss the top news stories of October, focusing on AI in healthcare, innovations in hospice care, and the impact of personal experiences on healthcare practices. They explore the ethical implications of AI surrogates in life-or-death decisions, the importance of equitable access to hospice care, and the role of technology in improving care delivery. The conversation also highlights the significance of personal stories in shaping healthcare perspectives and the ongoing challenges in the hospice industry.

[United Kingdom] Petition to save hospice beds going to Number 10 BBC News; Phil Shepka; 11/3/25 Families and MPs campaigning for beds to be saved at a hospice are to hand a petition with more than 15,000 signatures to Number 10 Downing Street. Nine inpatient beds at the Cambridge-based Arthur Rank Hospice are expected to close after the trust that operates nearby Addenbrooke's Hospital removed funding. ... Among those planning to attend Downing Street trip include those whose loved ones were cared for by the hospice. The funding cuts, announced last month, amount to £829,000 a year and will reduce the hospice's inpatient unit bed capacity from 21 to 12. 

Care-A-Van will make the rounds on Veterans Day Texarkana Gazette, Texarkana, TX; 11/2/25 Hospice of Texarkana will take to the streets again this Veteran's Day with its annual Care-A-Van, a rolling tribute to the men and women who have served the country. On Nov. 11, staff, volunteers and community partners will visit senior and assisted living centers throughout the area to thank and recognize local veterans, according to a news release from Hospice of Texarkana. ... Each stop will feature live patriotic music, certificate presentations and the giving of a U.S. flag to each veteran. In 2024, the Care-A-Van honored 110 veterans, and organizers hope to surpass that number this year, according to a news release.

Compassionate care, measurable impact: Evaluation of embedded physician-led palliative care in a community oncology practiceJCO Oncology Practice; by Haibei Liu, Jillian Hellmann, Jessica Heintz, Geoffrey Daniel Moorer, Karen Miller; 10/25This analysis indicates that embedding palliative care physicians within a community oncology practice significantly increases hospice enrollment and LOS [length of stay] greater than 3 days. These findings support a cooperative care model as a practical strategy for integrating palliative care physicians into community-based oncology practices to improve patients’ EOL outcomes. 

Coming soon: VITAS Healthcare Hospice care in Pinellas County South Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report; by cfelixcpa; 10/29/25 Beginning Nov. 3, residents of Pinellas County will have improved access to quality end-of-life care through VITAS Healthcare, ... VITAS will accept hospice-eligible referrals for patients in Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Tarpon Springs and surrounding communities. According to research, only 61% of Medicare decedents in Florida access the Medicare Hospice Benefit—meaning many patients and families miss out on the medical, emotional and spiritual support available near the end of life.

WHO strengthens palliative care across the eastern Mediterranean to improve quality of life fundsforNGOs; Press Release; 10/29/25 The Seventy-second session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean marked a historic step forward for health systems in the Region, as Member States endorsed resolution EM/RC72/R.4 on palliative care. The decision represents a transformative commitment to support individuals living with life-limiting illnesses, chronic conditions, and frailty, ensuring that care extends beyond treatment to dignity and compassion. ... [While] 2.4 million people in the Region need palliative care each year, less than 1% currently receive it. ... The resolution calls for countries to integrate palliative care into national health strategies, guarantee access to essential medicines such as oral opioids, and incorporate palliative care education into health professional training.

After her son’s painful death, a Cheshire mother highlights Connecticut’s pediatric hospice gap New Haven Register, Norwalk, CT; by Cris Villalonga-Vivoni; 10/26/25 Carolyn Torello believes that no parent should outlive their children, yet that became her reality. ...  As his condition worsened, the family faced his impending death without the support of pediatric palliative or hospice care. No provider, she said, seemed to know how to help or where to begin. He died at 15 years old in 2021. ... In 2020, an estimated 7,800 children in Connecticut were living with complex medical conditions that limited their life expectancy and could have benefited from palliative or hospice care, according to data from the National Survey of Children's Health. ... Torello thinks that if Michael had access to hospice care, he could have died with greater dignity, and their family could have focused on simply being together. ... Efforts to create a more formalized pediatric palliative care system have been underway since 2024, led by a state-commissioned working group that will make recommendations to the legislature on potential reforms.

How to manage financial caregiving for an aging parent AOL.com; by Kerry Hannon; 10/25/25Steering end-of-life financial decisions for an aging parent is not a job many of us would choose. But we do — and feel our way through the messy emotions as best we can. ...[From an interview:] "[Your mom] was rejected for hospice care, which is covered by Medicare. Can you elaborate on that?""That was just such a slap in the face because it's a hard decision to go to hospice. ... My mom made that decision for herself, but my brother, the doctors, and me had to be on board with it in order for her to do it. The only reason they rejected her is because they thought she would be too costly. They do a cost-benefit analysis of how long that person is going to last— how much [in] resources is she going to consume? They decided that her diagnosis was too murky to justify putting her on hospice at that point. I finally found another hospice company to accept her. And she died in two weeks."

Genesis holds groundbreaking ceremony for new hospice care facility Spectrum News 1, Zanesville, OH; by Ruby Jackson; 10/22/25 On Tuesday, Genesis HealthCare System held a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the construction of its new Genesis Hospice Care inpatient facility. The new facility has been dubbed the J.W. & M.H. Straker Foundation Hospice House and is planned to finish construction in 2026. ... A total of $7.4 million was donated from the community organizations and individuals during a capital campaign.

Incarceration and quality of cancer careJAMA Network Open; by Oluwadamilola T. Oladeru, Ilana B. Richman, Jenerius A. Aminawung, Jason Weinstein, Lisa B. Puglisi, Rajni Mehta, Hsiu-Ju Lin, Emily A. Wang, Cary P. Gross; 10/25The incarcerated population in the US is aging, and an estimated 15% of incarcerated adults, or approximately 175,000 individuals, are now 55 years or older. With this demographic shift, diseases of aging have become more prevalent, and cancer now ranks as the most common cause of death among people who are incarcerated in the US. Despite the growing prevalence, cancer outcomes among those incarcerated lag behind those with no history of incarceration. Individuals diagnosed with cancer while incarcerated or immediately following release have an approximate 2-fold increase in cancer-related mortality compared with the general population, even after adjusting for stage at diagnosis. Along with other published literature, this work suggests that gaps in quality of care may contribute to observed disparities in outcomes.Assistant Editor's note: Most of us cannot imagine what it would be like to be in prison. With cancer. And perhaps even dying there. Steven Garner knows. He spent many decades as an inmate at a state penitentiary. While there, he became a hospice volunteer supporting dying inmates, training other volunteers, and he served to pioneer Hospice in Corrections programs throughout the US. Steven is out of prison now, living his best life in Colorado and consulting around the nation about ways to improve end of life care for incarcerated persons. Oprah Winfrey was involved in sharing Steven's story in a Netflix documentary called Serving Life. NPR published an article about Steven in February 2024. Additionally, Hospice Analytics has posted a link to a 20-minute video about Steven's life and work in prison: Angola Prison Hospice: Opening the Door. And finally, if you'd like more information, Steven Garner has a website. 

[England] Ambulance team uses advanced ultrasound to help frail patients avoid hospital trips Emergency Services Times; by James Devonshire; 10/16/25 The East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) is using cutting-edge medical technology to help elderly and end-of-life care patients receive treatment in their own homes, reducing the need for hospital admissions. The service’s advanced practice (urgent care) team has introduced point of care ultrasound (POCUS)—a portable diagnostic tool previously reserved for critically ill patients—to assess bladder and urinary conditions safely and effectively in community settings. Using the handheld Butterfly ultrasound device, paramedics can perform scans and interpret results via software on iPads, allowing for faster and more accurate diagnoses.