Literature Review

Advancing Symptom Alleviation with Palliative Treatment (ADAPT): A qualitative study to understand how a nurse and social worker palliative telecare team improved quality of life in chronic illnessJournal of Applied Gerontology; Amy Ladebue, Juliana G. Barnard, Leah M. Haverhals, Brianne Morgan, Kelly Blanchard, Marilyn Sloan, David B. Bekelman; 5/25 The Advancing Symptom Alleviation with Palliative Treatment (ADAPT) trial found that a nurse and social worker palliative telecare team (providing care via phone) improved quality of life in older Veteran patients with chronic illness. Our objective was to describe clinician and patient experiences of ADAPT and how ADAPT influenced Veterans’ quality of life. We used thematic analysis on structured interviews with 36 randomly selected patients, semi-structured focus groups with nine palliative care intervention team clinicians, and clinical intervention summaries of 147 patients. ADAPT proved to be an effective model for most Veterans by improving Veterans’ health care delivery and navigation and promoting timely and holistic health care and teaching skills that improved wellbeing. ADAPT also helped to improve patient engagement and sense of agency.

Cleveland Clinic virtual care service expands throughout US Becker's Health IT; by Giles Bruce; 6/4/25 The Clinic by Cleveland Clinic, a virtual second opinion service, is expanding its licensure to thousands of additional providers across the nation. The Clinic partnered with credentialing company Baton Health to grow its provider licenses to more than 10,000, spanning the entire country. The Clinic, a joint venture between Cleveland Clinic and telehealth company Amwell, offers quick access to physicians and subspecialists for virtual second opinions. 

6 ways to successfully implement clinical communication tools Forbes; by Judit Sharon; 5/19/25 In the high-stakes environment of healthcare, communication breakdowns can have life-or-death consequences. Yet too often, hospitals and healthcare systems assume that simply deploying new clinical communication and collaboration (CC&C) tools will solve the problem. The reality is more complex: Successful implementation depends just as much on operational alignment, cultural change and thoughtful execution as it does on the technology itself. To turn communication tools into real transformation, here are six ways to drive successful CC&C adoption.

Virtual nursing at Hackensack Meridian Health is making nurses and patients happy Healthcare IT News; by Bill Siwicki; 5/12/25 In-hospital nurses can focus on more critical tasks and direct patient care while virtual nurses handle the routine monitoring and documentation tasks. Patients appreciate more personalized support and the overall hospital experience. Hackensack Meridian Health has made a conscious effort to identify ways to streamline administrative tasks for its bedside teams, minimizing non-clinical burdens for frontline staff. ... Early results show virtual nursing supports faster discharging procedures, coordinated care planning and optimization of in-unit nursing time through the shifting of the documentation burden.

Do automated reminders decrease no-show visits in an outpatient palliative medicine clinic? Sage Journals - American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Ruth L. Lagman, MD, MPH, MBA, Renato V. Samala, MD, MHPE, Ahed Makhoul, MD, Kyle Neale, DO, Chirag Patel, MD, Elizabeth Weinstein, MD, Wei Wei, MS, and Xiaoying Chen, MS; 3/23/25 Individuals who do not show up for medical appointments can lead to unfavorable outcomes for both patients and health systems. Automated methods are available to confirm appointments in addition to patient service coordinator (PSC) telephone calls. This study aims to determine the no-show rates for automated methods of confirmation, in-person and virtual visits, and patients living in underserved areas.Conclusion: PSC telephone calls, individuals living within COZ and virtual visits had higher no-show rates.

MaineHealth Memorial Hospital leverages telehealth in unexpected ways MaineHealth, North Conway, ME; Press Release; 3/312/25 When a patient presenting with stroke symptoms arrives at MaineHealth Memorial Hospital's emergency department, time is of the essence. It could take hours to arrange for medical transport and get that patient to a tertiary care center like MaineHealth Maine Medical Center to see a stroke neurologist. Using telehealth, these patients can receive this specialized care if it is necessary in less than 30 minutes. While telehealth is often associated with remote home visits, MaineHealth Memorial Hospital also uses it to enhance on-site care. Using remote consult technology, MaineHealth specialists can offer local care teams expert advice at the bedside or in the exam room. [Continue reading ...]

Harmonizing federal and Florida laws on prescribing controlled substances through telehealth JD Supra; by Jeremy Burnette, Martin Dix, and John Hood; 3/24/25 Practitioners who want to prescribe controlled substances via telehealth to patients in Florida must meet the requirements of both federal and state law. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Florida legislature have recently amended the applicable federal regulations and state laws, respectively, to allow the prescribing of controlled substances via telehealth[*] without conducting an in-person evaluation under certain circumstances. There are key differences between federal and state law, so practitioners prescribing controlled substances via telehealth to patients in Florida should be aware of the particular requirements of each. [Continue reading ...]

Community health workers and technology interventions' impact on palliative support globally Journal of Palliative Medicine; by Alekhya Gunturi, Margarita Pertierra, Irma Elizabeth Huayanay Espinoza, Maya Kavita Ramachandran, Mpho Ratshikana Moloko, Karl A Lorenz; 3/20/25Background: Palliative care has the potential to relieve burdened global health systems but is in short supply in many low-resource settings. Community health workers (CHWs) and digital health tools/telephonic support have the potential to scale scarce palliative care resources and improve outcomes for seriously ill adults in home/community settings.  Conclusions: CHWs and digital health/telephony can improve quality of life, health care use, and caregiver support. Most research focuses on physical and psychological aspects of care instead of cultural aspects of care. Future research is needed to explore culturally tailored interventions in minority populations and low- and middle-income countries, as well as investigate emerging remote technologies to allow for scaling palliative care into home/community settings.Editor's note: Pair this with Hospice community responds to proposed DEA telehealth prescribing rule, posted 3/21/25.

Hospice community responds to proposed DEA telehealth prescribing rule Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 3/20/25 A proposed rule by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) could impede timely access to medications for hospice and palliative care patients, according to members of the hospice community. ... If finalized, this proposed rule would require prescribers to register with the DEA before they are allowed to prescribe schedule II-V controlled substances, along with some monitoring and other requirements.  ... Implementation of the proposed rule would have adverse consequences for hospice and palliative care patients, according to the National Alliance for Care at Home. ... The Alliance made several recommendations to the DEA regarding the proposal: 

Congress passes telehealth, hospital-at-home in funding bill Modern Healthcare; by Michael McAuliff; 3/14/25 Congress completed work on a government funding bill Friday that modestly trims spending, gives President Donald Trump greater flexibility to cut programs and extends expiring healthcare priorities. In a 54-46 vote, the Senate approved legislation the House passed Tuesday that prevents the partial government shutdown that would have commenced at midnight EDT. ... The "continuing resolution," or CR, funds government operations through fiscal 2025, which ends Sept. 30, and extends and finances key healthcare programs for the same duration. Those include reauthorizing Medicare reimbursements for telehealth and hospital-at-home services, originally authorized during the COVID-19 pandemic; ...

The Alliance commends introduction of legislation to extend hospice telehealth flexibilities  National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC; Press Release; 2/28/25 The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) is pleased to support the reintroduction of the Hospice Recertification Flexibility Act in the House of Representatives. This bipartisan legislation, H.R.1720, would extend telehealth flexibilities for hospice face-to-face (F2F) recertification. The F2F encounter is performed by a physician or nurse practitioner to evaluate the patient and collect clinical information used in determining continued eligibility for hospice. Introduced by Representatives Carol Miller (R-WV) and Jared Golden (D-ME), the bill would extend the F2F recertification flexibility for providers until December 31, 2027. Beginning January 1, 2026, the legislation also includes important guardrails to ensure appropriate use and requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to create a modifier to collect data on when the F2F encounter is conducted via telehealth. The Alliance, then through its legacy organizations, worked with lawmakers to ensure continued care transformation and access to care for high-quality providers. [Click on the title's link to continue reading.]

5 tips to determine how tech can support your physicians American Medical Association (AMA); by Georgia Garvey; 2/25/25 ... Margaret Lozovatsky, MD, vice president of digital health innovations at the AMA, recently shared five important considerations—among them establishing a governance model and agreeing on shared priorities—in designing technology to support clinical practice. Dr. Lozovatsky’s presentation was part of a two-day AMA training event to help physicians eliminate unnecessary work and free up more time to focus on what matters most—patient care. ...