Literature Review

National Alliance for Care at Home responds to CY 2027 Medicare Home Health Final Rule, citing continued need for reimbursement stability and targeted oversight National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA; Press Release; 11/4/26 The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) today responded to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) calendar year (CY) 2027 Home Health Prospective Payment System final rule. The payment update finalized by CMS offers greater stability amid a challenging operating environment, yet the Alliance remains concerned that the finalized 3% temporary payment adjustment may undermine providers’ ability to deliver care in the home. The Alliance is also alarmed that broad provider enrollment provisions may have unintentional consequences for legitimate providers. 

Central Texas loses only pediatric hospice-at-home care as Dell Children's program closes Austin American-Statesman, Austin, TX; by Nicole Villalpando; 10/31/26 Four years after it opened, Dell Children's Medical Center is closing its Hospice at Home program Friday. The program was designed to bring care to the home of a dying child, rather than to have the family go to a clinic for that care. In a statement from Dell Children's, the hospital said the program "is transitioning from home-based care to an outpatient clinic setting. That care will be provided through the Comprehensive Care Clinic, which specializes in children with complex diagnoses, many of whom might need hospice or palliative care. ... This move leaves Central Texas without a pediatric hospice provider for in-home care.

Medicare spending rises after private equity buys hospices Harvard Medical School; by Harvard Medical School with byline, Jake Miller; 11/2/26 At a Glance 

Lake County Hospice grant pulled after renamed nonprofit missed promised camps  hoodline, North SF Bay area; by Emily Johnson; 10/31/26 The board of Lake County's Redbud Health Care District voted to revoke its annual grant award for Hospice Services of Lake County, now operating under the new name Lake Circle of Care, after the nonprofit failed to carry out programs it promised when it sought the money earlier this year. The decision came at the district's monthly board meeting on Oct. 27, revoking the organization's annual district grant and leaving it facing a demand to return money from a prior grant cycle. 

Patients with suboptimal discharges – a follow-up (and rescinding hospice billing)RACmonitor; by Ronald Hirsch, MD, FACP, ACPA-C, CHCQM, CHRI; 10//28/26 Let me start with an update on my project to get a way to indicate on a hospital claim that a patient has discharged to a less-than-optimal location. ... [That began] with a push to use the “against medical advice” designation for such patients. But the stigma behind that term led me to adopt the suggestion of Valerie Rinkle, a nationally known revenue integrity expert, who proposed adoption of a condition code instead of using a discharge status code. Last week I once again presented to the National Uniform Billing Committee (NUBC), asking for such a code to be established. During that meeting, one of the members came up with an even better idea: establishing two condition codes, one for when the patient chooses a less-than-optimal location, and a different condition code for when the payer refuses to approve the suggested post-acute care.

The debate: vertical integration, payvider, or world-class care—which path forward? | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast by Chris Comeaux; 10/21/26 What if hospice succeeds at the wrong strategy?  Chris Comeaux explores three paths for the future of hospice and palliative care: vertical integration, the payvider model, and world-class specialty care. In Part One of The Debate: Vertical Integration, Payvider, or World-Class Care—Which Path Forward?, Chris Comeaux confronts a defining question for healthcare leaders: What should our organizations become to best serve patients and families? With competition intensifying, financial pressures mounting, and workforce demands growing, he introduces three possible paths: build an Vertical Integration continuum of care, participate in financing as a Payvider, or make World-Class Hospice and Palliative Care the central strategy.

The debate: vertical integration, payvider, or world-class care—which path forward? | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast by Chris Comeaux; 10/21/26 What if hospice succeeds at the wrong strategy?  Chris Comeaux explores three paths for the future of hospice and palliative care: vertical integration, the payvider model, and world-class specialty care. In Part One of The Debate: Vertical Integration, Payvider, or World-Class Care—Which Path Forward?, Chris Comeaux confronts a defining question for healthcare leaders: What should our organizations become to best serve patients and families? With competition intensifying, financial pressures mounting, and workforce demands growing, he introduces three possible paths: build an Vertical Integration continuum of care, participate in financing as a Payvider, or make World-Class Hospice and Palliative Care the central strategy.

The debate: vertical integration, payvider, or world-class care—which path forward? | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast by Chris Comeaux; 10/21/26 What if hospice succeeds at the wrong strategy?  Chris Comeaux explores three paths for the future of hospice and palliative care: vertical integration, the payvider model, and world-class specialty care. In Part One of The Debate: Vertical Integration, Payvider, or World-Class Care—Which Path Forward?, Chris Comeaux confronts a defining question for healthcare leaders: What should our organizations become to best serve patients and families? With competition intensifying, financial pressures mounting, and workforce demands growing, he introduces three possible paths: build an Vertical Integration continuum of care, participate in financing as a Payvider, or make World-Class Hospice and Palliative Care the central strategy.

Value-based care and alternative payment models: What they are and how they workHealthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA); by HFMA; 9/20/26Value-based care (VBC) is an approach to healthcare that seeks to improve the quality, outcomes and experience of care while managing its cost. Rather than rewarding healthcare organizations solely for the volume of services they provide, value-based arrangements link some or all payment to measures of quality, outcomes, utilization or total cost of care.

Hospice tech execs have changing role in age of AI Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 9/30/26 The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the hospice space is changing how chief information officers and other technology-focused leaders are approaching their jobs. Hospices nationwide are investing in AI systems to transform virtually every aspect of their businesses. This includes both nonprofit and for-profit providers and organizations of all sizes, though larger, well-capitalized companies and investing more heavily.

EvergreenHealth receives transformative $100M gift from Dean Weidner The Bee, Kirkland, WA; Press Release; 9/28/26 EvergreenHealth has received a philanthropic gift of $100 million from Dean Weidner—the largest gift in the community-owned hospital’s history. This transformative donation helps accelerate EvergreenHealth’s plans to advance high-quality health care in the community with expanded access and increased capacity for generations to come. The gift honors the legacy of Dean Weidner and his wife, Ana, both dedicated philanthropists and advocates for EvergreenHealth’s mission to advance the health of the community through safe, compassionate, cost-effective health care. ...EvergreenHealth is two-hospital health system with a network of primary care practices, urgent care centers, specialty clinics, extensive home care and hospice services, and 24/7 emergency care in Kirkland, Monroe and Redmond.

Hospice industry generates $142 million in economic activity [in Puerto Rico] W Journal; by Newsroom; 9/24/26 Puerto Rico’s hospice industry generates an estimated $142 million in economic activity, supports approximately 1,417 jobs and produces nearly $48 million in annual payroll, according to a new study by Estudios Técnicos Inc. (ETI). Commissioned by Grace Health Puerto Rico, the study examines the industry’s economic impact and the potential cost benefits of hospice care compared with more intensive forms of end-of-life treatment. ... “The findings demonstrate that hospice services generate not only economic benefits, but also important social benefits for patients and their families,” said Anitza Cox Marrero, director of ETI’s Social Analysis Division.

2027 trends to watch: Distributed care will drive the next phase of healthcare delivery Definitive Healthcare; by Ethan Popowitz; 9/17/26 Healthcare delivery has never been confined to a single setting. But the number of places where patients can receive care, and the range of services available outside the hospital, have grown in recent years. Today, a single patient journey might include a primary care visit, diagnostic imaging at an outpatient center, a procedure at an ambulatory surgery center (ASC), a virtual follow-up, and remote monitoring from home. ... This more distributed model of healthcare delivery is being shaped by several forces at once, from advances in medical technology and economic pressures to workforce shortages and more.