Literature Review

QIM26-302: Hospice at the bedside: A Quality Improvement Initiative to improve end of life care and reduce inpatient mortality in a cancer center Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network - JNCCN; by Matthew Murphy, Jacqueline Young, Hardik Thakkar, Sean Powell, Timothy Hembree, and David Buxton; 3/31/26 ...  Patients dying in the hospital may not survive transfer to external hospice units. ...  Integration of GIP Hospice beds into the hospital has streamlined delivery of timely, comprehensive EoL care for patients and bereavement support for families. The collaborative care model allows the hospital-based team to deliver care with active support from the hospice agency. Families express appreciation for the program, especially in situations when the patient is not stable for transfer.  

The corporate brand, culture, and the CISO: Why understanding the business is non-negotiable Halcyon; by Gary Hayslip; 3/30/26 Over the course of my career as a Chief Information Security Officer, I have come to a conclusion that many of my peers eventually reach, though sometimes the hard way: if you do not understand your company's brand and culture, you will never build a security program that is truly aligned to the business. ... This is not a soft topic. It is foundational. The relationship between corporate brand, internal business culture, and cybersecurity strategy is one of the most underappreciated dynamics in our profession, and I believe it deserves far more attention than it typically receives.

HMN 2026: How Nursing’s moral agency cannot be outsourced to AI Health Medicine Network; by George Demiris, PhD, Patricia Brennan, PhD. Oonjee Oh, MSN, and Sang Bin You, MSN; 3/24/26 ... Recommendations for health  systems: The article emphasizes that nurses must not be passive users of technology but active leaders in its design and implementation. To preserve the public’s trust, the authors offer several critical recommendations.

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. 

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.

Hospice organizations call for Medicare provider enrollment moratorium in California Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 3/20/26 A coalition of hospice and home health industry stakeholders are calling for a statewide moratorium in California on provider enrollments due to widespread Medicare fraud. A key area of focus is the greater Los Angeles County area. The group of providers and associations has written to U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz saying that rampant fraud in the state requires federal intervention. The signatories on the letter included the Save Home Health Coalition, California Hospice and Palliative Care Association (CHAPCA) and Texas Association for Home Care and Hospice (TAHCH).

Bayada offers scholarship program to address nursing shortage Williamsport Sun-Gazette; by Matthew Corter; 3/17/26 In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many industries experienced a shrinking workforce, and one of those hardest hit by the trend was the healthcare field. ... One of the biggest gaps currently is in home health aides. ... To face the shortage head on, Bayada has recently increased investment in its workforce and career development, including a scholarship program called Advance Through Nursing, which helps home health aides overcome financial and educational barriers on their path to becoming licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and registered nurses (RNs).

Hospice CARE Act reintroduced Hospice News; Jim Parker; 3/18/26 Rep. Linda T. Sánchez (D-Calif.) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) have re-introduced the Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act, designed to modernize the Medicare Hospice Benefit, fight fraud and expand access to care. The bill contains a blend of program integrity provisions and payment reforms intended to “strengthen” the benefit, according to the lawmakers. The bill would establish new safeguards to prevent fraudulent providers from enrolling in Medicare and bolster federal oversight of hospices. It would also change payment structures to incentivize high-quality care. 

Facing death as a doctor: Knowledge vs natureMedscape; by Sarah Amandolare; 3/12/26 The decision to enroll her father in hospice care came easily for Janet Abrahm, MD. Abrahm, a palliative care doctor and former oncologist, helped her father — an internist who died of prostate cancer at home — understand the program’s benefits, such as family bereavement services, and that he could be readmitted to the hospital if needed. “Most doctors don’t know that,” said Abrahm, who is also a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston and the author of Comprehensive Guide to Supportive and Palliative Care for Patients with Cancer. “They think it’s a one-way street, I imagine — that you put somebody in hospice and then that’s it. ... The level of engagement physicians have with death in their practice may inform how they want to die — and how they counsel loved ones facing a serious illness. But a new study suggests even as they face end-of-life decisions through the lens of their expertise, physicians can also be swayed by the same financial, familial, and existential burdens afflicting their patients. 

Leveraging AI, automation, and data analytics in a hospice setting HealthTech; by Lindsay Myers; 3/13/26 In the hospice setting, the revenue cycle is not only complex but also uniquely fragile, as billing cannot proceed without complete documentation. The sequential nature of hospice billing, where one month’s claims must be fully processed before the next can begin, means that even minor deficiencies can halt revenue entirely. Small delays or errors upstream can have a profound impact on cash flow. ... To improve this process, the Chapters Health System is developing an AI-driven chart review process to analyze the completeness of clinical and other documentation in real time. The goal is to identify missing or inconsistent elements and route those issues directly to the party that can make corrections ...

Hospice fraud explodes in California after state ‘crackdown’: 742 flagged providers, $105 million overbilled, and ghost offices California Globe; by Megan Barth; 3/11/26 California investigative reporter Christian Hartsock, in collaboration with California State Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo for the California Courier, released a breaking undercover investigation just days ago, exposing dozens of suspicious hospice and home healthcare agencies in Los Angeles. Their on-site visits revealed hundreds of companies registered to crumbling buildings with no ramps, no handicap parking, disconnected phones, and signs reading “Out to Lunch.” Hartsock’s footage highlights how over $3.5 billion in Medi-Cal fraud has been identified in Los Angeles County alone, with 31% of all U.S. hospices registered there despite only 2% of the nation’s aging seniors residing in the area. 

California hospice fraud: What to know as blame game erupts Newsweek; by Jasmine Laws; 3/11/26, updated 3/12/26 The social media platform X has been awash with criticism targeted at California Governor Gavin Newsom as a CBS News report detailed the extent of the state's hospice fraud problem. Newsom's office has been hitting back at the comments, reminding users that the state "cracked down on hospice fraud years ago," and has been pointing the finger at President Donald Trump, as his administration paused a hospice oversight program at the start of 2025. ... Responding to Newsom's office's comments, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Newsweek: "No one cares about Newscum’s boring X posts ..." While California has been in the spotlight for its hospice fraud, it is not the only state experiencing the problem—it is a nationwide issue. ... A report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General in 2023 found that suspected hospice fraud amounts totaled an estimated $198.1 million nationwide. However, some states in particular have seen a surge in new operators, namely California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas, meaning these states are considered hotspots for potential hospice fraud.Editor's Note: This article aptly names the deeply partisan “blame game” now playing out across many media outlets. Hospice fraud is not a partisan issue—it is a human one. When hospice is exploited, it erodes trust in a field built on compassion and dignity at life’s most vulnerable moments. Political finger-pointing may generate headlines, but it does little to solve the problem. Stopping hospice fraud requires accountability, strong oversight, and a shared commitment to protect patients—and the integrity of hospice care itself.