Literature Review

The Rose Program: expanding palliative care in nursing homes Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 10/28/26 “Palliative medicine saved my life.” These words from his daughter Rose inspired Dr. David Thimons to launch a new palliative care company. Rose is a survivor of bone cancer. The result of her family’s ordeal is the Rose Program, a for-profit company that provides palliative care primarily in nursing homes, with plans to expand into community-based services. Thimons early in his career was a nursing home geriatrician. But his daughter’s cancer experience led him to become palliative care board certified, eventually becoming chief medical officer of the national palliative medicine company Aspire. Hospice News sat down with Thimons to discuss the origins of the Rose program, its sustainable care model and plans for the future.

Daymark Health Oncology, palliative model reduces hospitalizations, costs Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 10/26/26 An in-home and virtual supportive oncology care program by Daymark Health was associated with fewer hospital admissions and lower overall healthcare spending among patients undergoing active cancer treatment. This is according to a clinical study presented at the 2026 ASCO Quality Care Symposium on October 16. Daymark Health, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI) and Brown University Health conducted the research, with co-authors from the University of Pennsylvania and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Palliative care is essential to the model, according to Daymark Health Co-Founder and Medical Director Dr. Angela Taber. 

Palliative Care: It’s Time for a Robust Federal BenefitNPHI podcast; by Cameron Muir, Kris Smith; 10/15/26The need for community-based palliative care has never been clearer. So why isn’t there a sustainable federal benefit to support it? Millions of Americans living with serious illness need coordinated, compassionate care long before they qualify for hospice. Yet gaps in our healthcare system too often leave patients and families facing unnecessary hospitalizations, fragmented services, and avoidable suffering. In this episode of Inside View by NPHI, hosts Tom and Carole welcome Dr. Cameron Muir and Dr. Kris Smith to discuss why it’s time for a robust federal community-based palliative care benefit.

Collaboration between oncology and palliative care key to high-quality careCancer Therapy Advisor; by Jennifer Larson; 10/16/26High-performing oncology programs that foster mutual trust and real-time communication between oncology and palliative care teams achieve greater quality of care, better patient outcomes, and more timely hospice transitions.To ensure patients with cancer receive high-quality care, oncology programs may need to take a close look at strategies for improving the relationship between their team and the palliative care team, according to the results of a study recently published in JAMA Internal Medicine [Effective palliative care for hospice transitions, 9/26].

Where can Americans access palliative care? New national initiative aims to find outGlobe Newswire; by Elizabeth Dowling; 10/14/26Where can people living with serious illness access specialty palliative care in the United States, and where is that care still out of reach? Today, there is no comprehensive national source showing where specialty palliative care is available across both hospital and community settings. The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) is working to change that with the launch of the Palliative Care Program Inventory (Program Inventory), a national initiative to map where specialty palliative care programs operate and where gaps in access remain. The Program Inventory will collect information directly from specialty palliative care programs nationwide, including data on staffing, patient volume, and care delivery models. The resulting data will support research, policy, and advocacy efforts to better understand - and ultimately expand - access to specialty palliative care across the country.

The future of palliative care starts with better evidence [An interview with Dr. Jean Kutner]University of Colorado Anschutz; by Carie Behounek; 7/30/26Research is lacking about which palliative care approaches work best for different patients and healthcare settings across the country. Through a $64 million NIH-funded national consortium, CU Anschutz is leading efforts to generate the evidence needed to improve quality of life for people with serious illness, strengthen care delivery across the lifespan and help research findings become standard practice... “Ultimately, we're trying to change practice – or provide the evidence needed to change practice,” Jean Kutner, MD, MSPH, said. “We have to do this work because people living with serious illness – and the people who care for them – are depending on us to generate the evidence that will make their care better.”

The future of palliative care: who will lead, who will pay, and what comes next? | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Brynn Bowman; 9/30/26 Palliative care isn’t struggling to prove that it works.  The bigger question now is whether our healthcare system can figure out how to deliver it to everyone who needs it—and sustainably pay for it. In Part One, Chris Comeaux sits down with Brynn Bowman, CEO of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), for a candid look at where palliative care is headed next.  Brynn paints a compelling picture of what success could look like five years from now: a patient living in rural America should have access to high-quality palliative care just as reliably as someone living near a major health system.

The future of palliative care: who will lead, who will pay, and what comes next? | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Brynn Bowman; 9/30/26 Palliative care isn’t struggling to prove that it works.  The bigger question now is whether our healthcare system can figure out how to deliver it to everyone who needs it—and sustainably pay for it. In Part One, Chris Comeaux sits down with Brynn Bowman, CEO of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), for a candid look at where palliative care is headed next.  Brynn paints a compelling picture of what success could look like five years from now: a patient living in rural America should have access to high-quality palliative care just as reliably as someone living near a major health system.

HMN 2026: How palliative care understanding shapes preferences for end-of-life care Health Medicine Network; 99/28/26 A Swedish population-level study has found that people with a comprehensive understanding of palliative care are more likely to prefer end-of-life care at home or in a hospice. Among individuals with less understanding about palliative care, hospital care is preferred. ... The data were based on a random sample of 3,750 people ages 16–90 from the Swedish population register. 

CMS expands the ACCESS Model: new tracks for heart failure, COPD, substance use disorders, tobacco cessation, and extended MSK support Foley Hoag; 9/21/26 Key Takeaways:

Effective palliative care for hospice transitionsJAMA Internal Medicine; by May Hua, MD, MS, Miguel Cid, MPH, Claire Barshied, PhD, Rachel C. Shelton, ScD, MPH, Grace Hu, MPH, Natasha Stekl, MPH, Carrie Brill, BS5; Elise C. Carey, MD, and R. Sean Morrison, MD; 9/14/26 Question: What factors impact the ability of palliative care teams to affect hospice use for patients with metastatic cancer?Findings: In this qualitative study across 6 sites with interviews among 93 clinicians and patients, institutions with high and low performance in hospice use exhibited substantive differences in the relationship between palliative care and oncology teams. At high-performing sites, the relationship was characterized by mutual trust and respect, warmth and familiarity, and empathy for each other, while at low-performing sites, the relationship was characterized by a lack of trust and familiarity as well as negative regard for each other.Meaning: These findings suggest that the relationship between palliative care and oncology teams is a modifiable factor that could affect care delivery and patient outcomes.

Impact of outpatient palliative care consult triggers on end-of-life outcomes in a VA hematology/oncology clinic Medscape; by Morgan Lyttle, MD, Michelle Popadiuk, MBA, LPN, RHIT, ODS-C, Seema Limaye, MD, Alexi Vahlkamp, Shannon Carrigan, MD, and Jean Vendiola, MD; 9/4/26 ... Conclusions: Outpatient palliative care (PC) triggers successfully shifted referral origin from inpatient to outpatient, halved the rate of trigger-eligible patients not receiving PC, and maintained hospice engagement despite loss of the inpatient oncology service. Future directions include expanding triggers to other subspecialty clinics managing oncology patients.

What palliative care teaches us about living well Psychology Today; by Jill Schwartz-Chevlin, MD, MBA; 9/2/26 When I reflect on my 20 years of practicing palliative medicine, the biggest takeaway is how the setting changes the work. Sitting down at a kitchen table with a patient and their family, instead of standing at a hospital bedside or in a clinic, changes the relationship. The person in front of me is in the comfort of their own home, surrounded by the people and objects that hold their history, and the conversation becomes theirs to lead. ...