Literature Review

Industry veteran launches ServingOverSelling movement to encourage health systems to curb promotional marketing News Chief, Minneapolis, MN; Press Release; 9/27/26 Chris Bevolo, former healthcare marketing agency owner, CEO and author of seven books calls on health systems to redirect money from self-promotion. One year after retiring from a 25-year health system marketing career, industry veteran Chris Bevolo has launched ServingOverSelling, a movement that encourages health systems to reallocate their promotional marketing spend and instead put those resources, energy and focus of those institutions back where they belong: on helping the people they exist to serve. The initiative, launched during the 2026 Society for Health Care Strategy & Market Development 2026 Connections Annual Conference, already has a number of signatories to the movement’s pledge for health system marketing leaders to reallocate their promotional marketing spend in whatever way possible.

Warning: If you get a ‘new’ plastic Medicare card in the mail, do not give your Social Security number SavingAdvice.com; by James Hendrickson; 9/28/26 An official-looking Medicare card unexpectedly arrives in your mailbox, but there’s something different about it: it’s plastic, perhaps has a chip, and comes with instructions telling you to call a number to “activate” your new benefits. Don’t make that call. The Senior Medicare Patrol specifically warns beneficiaries about scams involving supposed new plastic Medicare cards, chip cards, and annual replacement cards. Scammers may use the story as an excuse to obtain your Medicare number, Social Security number, banking information, or other personal data. There’s an important 2026 wrinkle, however: receiving a new Medicare card isn’t automatically evidence of fraud. ... Here’s what to check before giving anyone information. ...Editor's Note: Beware this additional level of fraud. Educate your employees, volunteers, and community. Read and distribute this timely information with specific, practical advice. 

What is end-of-life care at home? A complete guide for families exeleon | Healthcare; 9/28/26 A study published in Federal Practitioner in September 2025, using data from the CDC WONDER database, found that home was the most common place of death among cancer patients between 2003 and 2023, accounting for 40.3% of all recorded deaths. ... This guide walks through what services are typically included, how eligibility works, and what separates in-home support from care delivered in a facility. Along the way, it covers home care for end of life planning, the difference between hospice and general end-of-life support, and practical steps for arranging services quickly.

Interactive maps of aging: Judy Salerno and Lindsay Goldman GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Care Podcast for Every Healthcare Professional; pocast by Judy Salerno and Lindsay Goldman; 9/24/26 Love the story Judy Solerno tells at the start of this podcast. The story is about how John Snow, the father of modern epidemiology, mapped out cases of Cholera in London in the year 1854.  He was able to identify a concentration of cases near a neighborhood water pump.  Simply removing the handle from the pump halted the outbreak.  This is one of the earliest recorded uses of maps for public health purposes. Our guests today, Judy Salerno (President Emeritus of the New York Academy of Medicine) and Lindsay Goldman (CEO of Grantmakers in Aging) have done some wonderful work creating detailed, in-depth, interactive maps of aging in New York City. Go to IMAGENNYC and try it yourself.

Center for Hospice Care spotlights doula volunteer program GreatNews.Life, Valparaiso, IN; by Bennett Silveus; 9/25/26 Over the years, Center for Hospice Care (CHC) has worked to provide a wide range of specialized hospice and palliative care options to members of the Northern Indiana community.  ... End-of-life doulas are trained, non-medical professionals who provide emotional, spiritual, and personal support and guidance to patients and families navigating the transitional period between life and death. ... Each CHC end-of-life doula works as a general volunteer for the non-profit, often starting off as a home visit or patient volunteer before moving to work as a doula. From there, the volunteer must take a 16-hour course and shadow a current doula to become fully trained in the practice.

Geographic disparities in hospice quality and family caregiver experience: the roles of ownership, social vulnerability, and workforce capacity arXiv; by Jinho Cha and Misun Roh; 9/29/26  Hospice quality should be interpreted in relation to both provider organization and the local conditions under which care is delivered. This study develops a provider-county performance assessment framework by linking national Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) hospice data and Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Hospice Survey outcomes with county measures of rurality, social vulnerability, health burden, and workforce and health-resource context. The adjusted analysis includes 2,928 providers in 1,078 counties and combines geographic mapping, blockwise regression, six secondary CAHPS outcomes, and eight sensitivity analyses.

Hispanic Heritage Month 2026: resources for hospice and palliative care

Valley Oaks Health awarded $828,375 GROW grant to expand rural health access across northwest central Indiana PR Newswire, Lafayette, IN; 9/17/26 Valley Oaks Health announced today that it has been awarded $828,375 through the Growing Rural Opportunities for Well-being (GROW) Region 3 Grant initiative to strengthen access to integrated healthcare services across rural communities in northwest central Indiana. The funding is part of the Indiana Rural Health Transformation Program (Indiana RHTP), a statewide initiative designed to improve healthcare access, strengthen healthcare infrastructure, promote innovation, and support strategic partnerships that improve the health and well-being of Hoosiers.

IBM study finds 60% of employees worry AI is eroding critical thinking skills Complete AI Training; 9/21/26 A new IBM study finds that 60% of employees worry AI is eroding their skills, with critical thinking cited most often as declining. The research, released September 21, 2026, surveyed 1,500 CHROs and 8,800 employees globally, revealing a gap between the skills HR leaders say AI demands and what workers prioritize. While 71% of CHROs identify the ability to supervise, validate and override AI outputs as the workforce's most essential skill, only 29% of employees rank judgment as important. At the same time, CHROs cite critical thinking (57%) and human judgment (48%) as among the most important workforce capabilities.

Over 150 advocates convene on Capitol Hill to champion care at home National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC; Press Release; 9/16/26 This week, more than 150 care at home advocates from across the country met with 285 congressional offices to discuss key legislative and regulatory priorities for expanding and protecting access to care at home. The meetings were part of the 2026 National Alliance for Care at Home Advocacy Week, an important opportunity to unite the entire care at home continuum under one voice.  

Establishing an AI policy: a comprehensive white paper for life sciences teamsSakara Digital; by Amie Harpe; 9/21/26Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly evolved from a niche technology to a foundational element of business operations across all sectors. ... This white paper provides a comprehensive, narrative-driven guide for business and compliance leaders ...  Special attention is given to the unique regulatory, ethical, and operational considerations in life sciences and healthcare, with tangible guidance for governance, validation, training, monitoring, and audit strategies.

Taxpayer-funded health care programs hit with $17.5 billion in fraud in one year Before It's News; 9/23/26 Fraud in taxpayer-funded health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid is so pervasive that the government identified a breathtaking $17.5 billion in scams in just one year, according to an analysis conducted by the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), ... The crimes occurred in all 50 states, as well as Washington D.C, and U.S. territories including Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. A lengthy report made public this month identifies the largest number of offenders in California (3,141), followed by Florida (1,378), New York (989) and Minnesota (946) with some of the scams involving criminal networks connected to foreign entities.