Literature Review

Compassus CMO: deliver on the hospice promise Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 8/18/26 A patient’s journey towards hospice often begins with a goals-of-care conversation, but those discussions must be timely and effective to truly guide the services a person receives at the end of life. Hospice News spoke with Dr. Kurt Merkelz, M.D., FAAHPM, chief medical officer for Compassus, about the value of these conversations, when they should happen and how clinicians should conduct them. Compassus, one of the nation’s largest hospice providers, is a portfolio company of the private equity firm Towerbrook Capital Partners and the health system Ascension Health.

4 things healthcare leaders should do before their next AI rollout Forbes; by Amanda Eisel; 7/31/26 ​Talk to enough leaders across healthcare right now and you'll hear the same pattern. Someone raises the topic of AI. The room leans forward. Pilots are funded and launched. Six months later, the honest postmortem says some version of the same thing: The technology worked, but the adoption didn't. The gap is human, not technical. And in healthcare, where sensitive data and regulated workflows raise the stakes on every decision, that gap doesn’t just slow a rollout. It costs trust that takes years to rebuild. Healthcare doesn’t need more AI. It needs a people-led strategy that comes before the technology decision, not after it. ...

Why “strong operators” struggle when they step into leadership? Community Health Accreditation Partner (CHAP); by Jan Sweat; 8/14/26 In 1992, a student asked Steve Jobs what the most important thing he had learned was. The room went quiet. Jobs sat there thinking for more than twenty seconds before answering. Then he shared a lesson that has become one of the most powerful leadership insights I’ve ever heard: “I now take a longer-term view on people. In other words, when I see something not being done right, my first reaction isn’t to go fix it. It’s to say, we’re building a team here and we’re going to do great stuff for the next decade, not just the next year. And so what do I need to do to help so that the person that’s screwing up learns versus how do I fix the problem?” That quote perfectly captures the challenge many healthcare leaders face when they move from being a strong operator to leading a team.   

MatrixCare releases list of 2026 CAHPS Honors Elite and Honors Award winners MatrixCare, by ResMed; retrieved from the MatrixCare website on 8/11/26 MatrixCare (a ResMed company) released its 2026 CAHPS Honors and Honors Elite Award winners, recognizing home health and hospice organizations whose patient/family satisfaction scores exceeded MatrixCare's own national benchmark — a distinction limited to agencies that use MatrixCare as their CAHPS survey vendor. This is not a ranking among all roughly 6,850 Medicare-certified hospices nationwide, so many excellent agencies using other vendors simply aren't eligible to appear. Congratulations to all organizations listed, especially the approximately 70 that reached the top "Honors Elite" tier.

Embracing the four M's—a path to person-centered, reliable hospice and palliative care | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Margherita Labson and Kelly McCutcheon Adams; 8/5/26 What if the key to delivering more compassionate, reliable hospice care isn't another regulation—but a simpler way of thinking? In Part One of this compelling conversation, host Chris Comeaux welcomes Kelly McCutcheon Adams, Senior Director at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and Margherita Labson, President and CEO of MCLabson Consultation & Education Services, to explore the transformative power of the 4 M's Framework.  Originally developed through the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative, the 4 M's—What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility—provide an evidence-based roadmap for delivering highly individualized, person-centered care while improving reliability across healthcare settings. 

The key is not to prioitize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. ~ Stephen Covey

Embracing the four M's—a path to person-centered, reliable hospice and palliative care | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Margherita Labson and Kelly McCutcheon Adams; 8/5/26 What if the key to delivering more compassionate, reliable hospice care isn't another regulation—but a simpler way of thinking? In Part One of this compelling conversation, host Chris Comeaux welcomes Kelly McCutcheon Adams, Senior Director at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and Margherita Labson, President and CEO of MCLabson Consultation & Education Services, to explore the transformative power of the 4 M's Framework.  Originally developed through the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative, the 4 M's—What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility—provide an evidence-based roadmap for delivering highly individualized, person-centered care while improving reliability across healthcare settings. 

Delivering compassionate care in an evolving industry: OIG challengesHospice of the Valley, Phoenix, AZ; Press Release; 8/4/26... Over nearly five decades, Hospice of the Valley-West (HOV-West) has served our community and been a national leader in end-of-life care. We are committed to excellent clinical care along with being strong advocates of regulatory compliance and proponents of responsible stewardship of public resources. This commitment is shown in a number of ways: HOV was ranked among the top three hospices in the nation for high-quality care. ... An OIG third-party contractor audited 100 hospice claims for care provided during the first two years of the COVID-19 PHE. The OIG praised HOV-West for strong internal controls, policies and procedures. During the review, their third-party auditor agreed with 85 records, denying 15 records. In conversation with the OIG, they stated that this represents good results. However, HOV-West strongly disagrees with the 15 denials and we believe they will be overturned through the review and appeal process. ... The OIG report can be read here.

Executive Personnel Changes - 7/31/26

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. 

This global healthcare lesson could change America | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Dr. Mark Stoltenberg; 7/22/26 Some of the most innovative solutions to America's healthcare challenges aren't being developed in the world's wealthiest hospitals—they're emerging from communities with the fewest resources. What can American healthcare learn from global healthcare?  In our latest episode, Dr. Mark Stoltenberg, Harvard Medical School professor and Massachusetts General Hospital physician, joins Chris Comeaux to explore global healthcare, palliative care, hospice leadership, healthcare innovation, and the future of serious illness care in America. ... Drawing from his work leading global palliative care programs throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and other underserved regions, he shares how resource-limited healthcare systems are pioneering solutions that can improve American healthcare, strengthen the healthcare workforce, and restore compassionate, person-centered care.

Local nurse goes to Washington DC to meet with elected officials about hospice fraud YubaNet.com, Grass Valley, CA; by Foothills Compassionate Care; 7/22/26 Last month, at end of June, Registered Nurse, Kellie Bolle of Foothills Compassionate Care, traveled to Washington DC to meet with elected officials on the issue of fraud, waste and abuse in hospice care. ... With a rapidly escalating fraud crisis in hospice care, reputable, mission-focused organizations and providers are having to answer for a growing number of bad actors. Foothills Compassionate Care invites the public to an interactive town hall that will include: An update on national efforts to combat hospice fraud, insights from Clinical Care Manager Kellie Bolle, MSN, RN, CHPN, following her advocacy meetings in Washington, D.C., information about how to identify a reputable hospice provider, a discussion of hospice, palliative care, and the Medicare hospice benefit, and an open question-and-answer session with hospice professionals. Free and open to the public. [On Wednesday, July 29, 2026. Go to this article for their RSVP to the public.]

This global healthcare lesson could change America | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Dr. Mark Stoltenberg; 7/22/26 Some of the most innovative solutions to America's healthcare challenges aren't being developed in the world's wealthiest hospitals—they're emerging from communities with the fewest resources. What can American healthcare learn from global healthcare?  In our latest episode, Dr. Mark Stoltenberg, Harvard Medical School professor and Massachusetts General Hospital physician, joins Chris Comeaux to explore global healthcare, palliative care, hospice leadership, healthcare innovation, and the future of serious illness care in America. ... Drawing from his work leading global palliative care programs throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and other underserved regions, he shares how resource-limited healthcare systems are pioneering solutions that can improve American healthcare, strengthen the healthcare workforce, and restore compassionate, person-centered care.