Literature Review

'They took care of me too': HIA Heather's House marks 1-year, nearing 400 patients InForum | Fargo Forum, Fargo, ND; by Kevin Wallevand; 8/28/26 Heather's House is celebrating its first year open, with nearly 400 patients receiving care through HIA so far this year. [HIA's Heather's House is North Dakota's first freestanding, inpatient hospice house. HIA had previously been known as Hospice of the Red River Valley before changing its name in June.] Editor's Note: Congratulations on this significant success. From an article we posted one year ago when they opened: "Ground was broken for the facility three years ago and administrative offices were moved into the building in February, but the dream began many years before that with hospice trailblazers Mary Lou Dahms, Sonia McManus and Edie Lohr." Be inspired by connecting-the-dots between their "dreams" and your own with today's "Today's Encouragement."

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. ...

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.

Community Hospice introduces Community Horizon HealthThe Daily Independent, Ashland, KY; by Staff Report; 7/28/26 Community Hospice announced a new organizational identity that “reflects the organization’s vision for the future while honoring nearly five decades of compassionate service to the community,” according to a news release. Community Horizon Health brings the organization’s current services together under one unified identity “while creating the flexibility to expand and meet future needs.” “The needs of our community continue to evolve, and we believe it is our responsibility to evolve alongside them,” said CEO Rod Hieneman. “Community Horizon Health is not about changing who we are. It’s about preparing for where we’re going. This new identity allows us to thoughtfully grow while remaining true to the mission and values that have guided us from the very beginning.”

Grant supports hospice and home care in Juneau Juneau Empire, Juneau, AK; by Juneau Empire Staff; 7/29/26 A funding boost has provided a lifeline for home health and hospice care in Juneau. The Foundation for End of Life Care provided a $21,643 grant to Bartlett Regional Hospital to support critical equipment and staff training needs for home health and hospice patients and families. Bartlett Regional Hospital controller Andrew Erikson said Home Health and Hospice at Bartlett has relied on a medical equipment distributor to provide essential equipment for home health and hospice patients.

Hospice care helps patients stay connected to themselves  Portland Press Herald; by Carol Weir; 7/27/26We must look past the fraud and incompetence of a few bad actors and recognize the vital role played by trusted, dedicated hospice providers. [Story about caring for 14-year-old boy Jacob] I share this story because I feel strongly that hospice care in America has been dealt a rough hand recently. Outlier examples of fraud and abuse in the news overshadow the exceptional, professional, compassionate and personalized care hospice programs provide day in and day out. Without a doubt, bad actors should be eradicated from the Medicare program, and government oversight reforms are needed ... No legitimate or credible providers dispute that. But we must not lose sight of the quality care patients like Jacob are receiving from skilled, reliable, warm, nurturing and empathetic hospice teams in every corner of our country.

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.

Agrace expands hospice services into Dubuque Associated Press | PR Newswire, Dubuque, IA; 7/21/26 Local residents who are in the final months of life have a new choice for high-quality, in-home hospice care. Agrace, the largest Wisconsin-based nonprofit hospice, has expanded west of the Mississippi River for the first time, bringing its services to patients in the city of Dubuque, Iowa. For nearly 50 years, Agrace Hospice Care has provided compassionate end-of-life care to people of all ages across southern Wisconsin, with its headquarters located in Madison. Now, Dubuque-area residents can also choose Agrace for hospice care that comes to them where they live—in private homes, long-term care facilities or any other place they call home. Agrace has opened a local office at 300 Main Street in Dubuque, strengthening its commitment to serving patients, families and health care partners in the community.

CTOs say human alignment is key to cyber resilience SC World US Media | CyberRisk Alliance; by LevelBlue; 7/17/26 ... CTOs identify human misalignment as a key shortcoming in the cyber resilience strategy.CTOs believe that greater collaboration could improve the effectiveness of their cyber resilience strategies. Only slightly over one quarter (27%) say their enterprise displays very close alignment, compared with about a third who say they are very competent in areas relating to cybersecurity and cyber resilience. LevelBlue’s data indicates that 75% of CTOs (compared with 61% of the overall sample) say lack of clarity around responsibility for cyber resilience often impairs strategy. A lack of clear ownership blurs accountability, delays incident response, and disconnects cyber decisions from business risk appetite. Despite strong technical defenses, this leaves organizations more exposed.

What hospices can learn from Netflix Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 7/15/26 Netflix has infiltrated many of our homes, and hospices can learn a lesson or two from that company’s history of innovation. Many commentators have held up the streaming and entertainment company as a pillar of innovation, repeatedly reinventing itself as market conditions change. The company is adept at riding the “S-curve,” which models growth and progress for a business over a period of time. To form the “S,” a company must pass through three phases: slow initial growth (the base), rapid acceleration (the middle) and eventual leveling off (the maturity phase). Hospice businesses, for profit and nonprofit, must also ride this curve to succeed. This could require stepping outside their comfort zone, according to Agrace President and CEO Lynne Sexten.

Arden Home Health and Hospice celebrates Grand Opening of Vicksburg branch Vicksburg Daily News (VDN), Vicksburg, MS; Press Release; 7/10/26 Arden Home Health and Hospice held a ribbon-cutting and open house to mark the grand opening of its new Vicksburg hospice branch at 1650 US 61, Suite D. The new branch expands Arden’s established home health presence in Vicksburg, adding hospice services for patients and families in Claiborne, Jefferson, Warren, Yazoo, Holmes, Humphreys, Sharkey, and Issaquena counties. ... Prior to this expansion, families in these communities were forced to travel significant distances for advanced hospice care.

What’s broken in American healthcare—and how to fix it | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast by Chris Comeaux with Dr. Don Berwick; 7/8/26What if the greatest challenge facing American healthcare isn’t a lack of innovation—but a system that rewards the wrong incentives? In this compelling new episode of TCNtalks / Anatomy of Leadership, Chris Comeaux sits down with Dr. Don Berwick—former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), co-founder of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and one of the most respected voices in healthcare quality—to discuss the forces shaping healthcare today and what leaders can do to change its future.

What’s broken in American healthcare—and how to fix it | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast by Chris Comeaux with Dr. Don Berwick; 7/8/26What if the greatest challenge facing American healthcare isn’t a lack of innovation—but a system that rewards the wrong incentives? In this compelling new episode of TCNtalks / Anatomy of Leadership, Chris Comeaux sits down with Dr. Don Berwick—former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), co-founder of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and one of the most respected voices in healthcare quality—to discuss the forces shaping healthcare today and what leaders can do to change its future.