Literature Review

As AI listens to patients, physicians face new questions Medscape; by Michael Waldholz; 6/22/26 Like much of modern life, medicine is rapidly being reshaped by AI. The fastest-growing — and potentially most consequential — application in healthcare is a technology known as “ambient intelligence.” ... According to a new report from the Peterson Health Technology’s AI Taskforce, “There is no technology in recent memory that has been adopted more enthusiastically by clinicians or has scaled up so uncharacteristically fast, absent a regulatory mandate.” But with the enthusiasm comes concern. The AI scribe field is unregulated, so an application’s accuracy isn’t being independently monitored. In one recent study, researchers reported scribes produced inaccuracies that the authors say will require “vigilance.” 

'A big win' | Georgia expands medical cannabis access with new law, boosting patient treatment options WMAZ-13 CBS; Macon, GA; by Maggie Fitzgerald; 7/3/26 Georgia’s medical cannabis program is expanding under the newly enacted Putting Georgia’s Patients First Act, a law that supporters say significantly broadens patient access while reshaping how medical cannabis is produced, distributed and dispensed across the state. The law, which took effect July 1, overhauls several core parts of Georgia’s medical cannabis framework. It eliminates the state’s previous 5% THC concentration cap and instead regulates products by the total amount of THC they contain and how much a registered patient can purchase over a given period.

The impact of educational interventions on nursing students' attitudes towards end-of-life care: a cross-sectional study Nursing Open; by Mayra Veronese and Cristiana Rago; 6/28/26 Aim: To evaluate nursing students' attitudes towards end-of-life care and assess the impact of an elective educational course on shaping these attitudes. Implications for the Profession: Although nursing students exhibited generally positive attitudes towards end-of-life care, theoretical instruction alone proved insufficient to significantly enhance their preparedness for palliative care practice. These findings have direct implications for nursing education and clinical care quality: integrating comprehensive, experiential palliative care education throughout nursing curricula, ...

Supporting mental health in end-of-life care – associate professor Sarah Yardley ehospice; by Dr. Sarah Yardley; 6/29/26 [Based on hospice observations described earlier in this article] ... I propose several ideas that support relationship centered care:

Clinical Artificial Intelligence as a novice nurse: Leadership responsibilities for safe implementationNurse Leader; by Asiah Ruffin; 5/26Clinical artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are increasingly integrated into health care environments, influencing clinical workflows, documentation, decision-making, and patient communication. While AI is often introduced as a technical innovation, its implementation presents significant leadership responsibilities related to safety, workforce readiness, and organizational oversight. This commentary proposes an analogy that conceptualizes clinical AI systems as novice nurses—entities that require structured orientation, supervision, feedback, and ongoing development rather than autonomous trust. Using this analogy, the article examines risks associated with premature reliance on AI, including workflow disruption, performance variability over time, and limited user understanding of system capabilities and limitations. The commentary also outlines practical leadership considerations, including investing in workforce education, collaborating with human factors experts, establishing governance processes, and engaging in policy advocacy.

Palliative care or hospice? Flipping the classroom for 1st year pre-clinical medical students with interactive online contentAmerican Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care; by Maxwell Vergo, Charles Wang, Lawrence Myers; 5/26Although palliative care competencies appear on USMLE [United States Medical Licensing Examination] examinations, pre-clinical curricula devote minimal time to end-of-life education. We created a 30-minute interactive online module in Articulate 360™ for first year students covering palliative care definitions, eligibility criteria, and care settings. In-class time was restructured to small group case discussions distinguishing primary palliative care, specialty palliative care, and hospice. Correct responses on a palliative care examination question improved from 57% (2020-2021, virtual lecture) to 66%, 67%, and 80% in subsequent years with the flipped intervention. The pre-work engaged students in learning (79-89% agreement), enabled focus on advanced topics during class (73-77% agreement), and was described as interactive and helpful in teacher evaluations.

Family caregivers' perspectives on challenges and support needs in hospital-based palliative care for persons living with dementia Baylor Medicine | Texas Medical Center Documents ; by Jung Kwak, Anita Chary, Sarah Stayer, Kwaku Duah Oppong, Sumin Yoon, Snehal Patel, and Elizabeth A Kvale; originally pub 11/17/25, reposted online 6/23/26Palliative care needs of hospitalized persons living with dementia (PLWD) and their family caregivers remain poorly understood. ... Thematic analysis of interviews revealed three themes: the value of palliative care in navigating end-of-life uncertainty in dementia, uncoordinated and reactive care during hospitalization, and lack of guidance for post-hospital transitions. While caregivers valued palliative care for emotional and decision-making support, findings underscore the need for earlier integration and improved coordination across hospital teams to better support families.

Cracks in the AI crystal ball: why clinical prediction tools fall short in the real world Journal of General Internal Medicine; by David Gamble MD, Andrew Wong MD, MS and Amiran Baduashvili, MD; 6/22/26 ... In this issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, Patel and colleagues evaluate the real-world performance of five Epic predictive AI tools: the Deterioration Index, Sepsis Model, Unplanned Readmission Model, End-of-Life Care Index, and Patient No-Show Model. Their systematic review and meta-analysis, encompassing 22 studies and over two million patients, focused on the models’ ability to distinguish between patients who ultimately did and did not experience a specific outcome—a property known as discrimination.

The profound meaning and mystery of deathbed visions The Washington Post; by Caitlin Gibson; 6/19/26 As Shirley was dying, she kept seeing the grandmother she’d lost long ago.For as long as she can remember, Debbie Eichensehr has feared losing her mother, Shirley. Throughout her early childhood and well into her teen years, she tried to quell her anxiety with a bedtime ritual. Before going to sleep, she would kiss her mother’s cheek and recite the same words:

[Portugal] Reiki and Therapeutic Touch for symptom burden and quality of life in palliative settings: A systematic reviewPalliative Medicine; by Raquel Pontes-Gomes, Paulo Reis-Pina; 5/26Evidence regarding Reiki and Therapeutic Touch in palliative and end-of-life care remains limited and heterogeneous. Nine studies involving 415 participants were included: five mixed-methods studies, three randomized controlled trials, and one qualitative cross-sectional study conducted in North America (n = 6) and Europe (n = 3). Cancer was the predominant diagnosis.  Some studies reported improvements in symptoms (pain, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and stress), and in quality-of-life domains (sleep, relaxation, energy, hope, and emotional well-being). Qualitative findings described perceived relaxation, comfort, and emotional support. Further well-designed studies are needed to clarify their potential role in palliative care.

When the right end-of-life care is hardest to access MedPageToday's KevinMD.com; by Denise Mohess, MD; 6/17/26 The cost of health care in America is extraordinarily high, too often funding the wrong type of care. As a geriatric medicine and palliative care physician, I sit with patients and families making end-of-life decisions, weighing life-prolonging measures, optimizing quality of life, defining what matters most to them. Recently, a 100-year-old man with severe dementia, limited mobility, hearing impairment, requiring assistance for his daily needs, was admitted to the hospital with worsening weakness. ... At a time when care should have eased suffering, the system instead added to it, as the care that best honored his wishes was the hardest to access.