Literature Review

Treasure Coast Hospice launches new website to make hospice referrals easier for families and healthcare providers Cision PRWeb, Stuart, FL; by Treasure Coast Hospice; 8/11/26 Treasure Coast Hospice has launched a newly redesigned website featuring an enhanced online referral experience that makes it easier for healthcare providers, patients, and families to connect with hospice care. The new website was developed to remove common barriers people may face when searching for hospice information and to make the referral process more accessible, efficient, and easy to understand. ... One of the most significant updates is a new online referral form with two distinct pathways: one for healthcare professionals and another for patients and loved ones.

The healthcare partnership nobody is talking about: hospice + FQHCs | part twoTeleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Kyle Ahlenstorf; 8/14/26 What if one of the most promising partnerships in serious illness care has been hiding in plain sight? In Part Two of The Healthcare Partnership Nobody Is Talking About: Hospice + FQHCs, Chris Comeaux continues his conversation with Kyle Ahlenstorf about the largely untapped opportunity for hospice and palliative care organizations to collaborate with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs).  The discussion explores how hospice and palliative care can extend an FQHC's reach into the home while FQHCs bring an established infrastructure of primary care, behavioral health, care coordination, community health workers, and preventive services.  Together, these capabilities could create a stronger continuum of care for patients with serious and chronic illness. 

Reports from Duke University describe recent advances in managed care (the South had the lowest rates of hospice and palliative medicine-certified providers in the US, 2024): managed careInsurance Newsnet; by Staff; 8/13/26 A new study on Managed Care is now available. According to news reporting originating in Durham, North Carolina, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “To improve access to care for serious illness, policy makers need evidence on how workforce capacity aligns with the need for palliative care. This study evaluated the palliative care workforce and policy environments at the state level, using a new data source: the 2024 Center to Advance Palliative Care’s comprehensive Serious Illness Scorecard.” Funders for this research include US Department of Veterans Affairs, Duke University, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Durham Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discover and Practice Transformation (ADAPT) at the Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System. Read the study here.

[Portugal] The ethical and psychosocial dimensions of palliative care in prison: A scoping reviewJournal of Bioethical Inquiry; by Ana Gehl-Costa, P. Reis-Pina; 7/26With prison populations expanding and aging, palliative care (PC) is an urgent concern. People in prison (PIP) face chronic illness, mental health conditions, and social vulnerabilities, creating ethical and psychosocial challenges to dignified end-of-life (EOL) care... Ethical domains included structural neglect of PIP with life-limiting illness, barriers to compassionate release, compromised autonomy, denial of death in prison culture, and inadequacies in care quality and access. Psychosocial domains encompassed stigma, mistrust, isolation, existential suffering, and fractured social bonds. PIP-led hospice models offered companionship but raised tensions around labour, confidentiality, and the normalization of death in custody... Prison-based PC requires systemic reforms, staff training, family and advocacy involvement, and legal safeguards to ensure equitable, compassionate, and dignified EOL care.Publisher's note: This article was included in the August 2026 issue of End-of-Life Care Behind Bars - Current Thinking, by Barry R. Ashpole.

Anonymous donor helps Grace House buy Highland Square’s Leonora Hall Signal Akron; Akron, OH; by Shams Mustafa; 8/17/26 A new chapter is beginning for Highland Square’s Leonora Hall after a nonprofit organization, Grace House Akron, purchased the property with the unexpected help of an anonymous donor. ... The acquisition means the property has a new owner following the closure of the Francesca Residence and the displacement of its mostly elderly residents. In a statement, Grace House representative Jen Boroff said that the nonprofit, which provides end-of-life care and housing for people who are indigent, unsheltered or abandoned, sees potential for the site to strengthen its mission and serve the broader community but that the organization has not yet decided how it will use the property.

Home health aide pay 2026: $17.36/hr average, top states & policy threat to your paycheck Unfinished Man; by Rasha; 8/11/26 The average home health aide makes $36,120 a year, or $17.36 an hour — but pay varies widely by state, setting, and a proposed federal rule change. You search “home health aide salary” and get three different numbers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says one thing, Payscale says another, and the Labor Department median sits somewhere in between. Which one do you trust? ... Some aides earn barely above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Others clear $20 an hour. And right now, there’s a policy fight happening that could change everything about how this job pays.

Can a short-term moratorium strengthen the hospice sector? LeadingAge; by Katie Smith Sloan; 8/11/26 President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan explains why LeadingAge supported the six-month moratorium on Medicare enrollment of new hospice providers and what nonprofit providers can do to strengthen the hospice sector.Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to attend a community theater production of the iconic musical “Fiddler on the Roof.” In a series of unforgettable scenes, Tevye, the production’s main character, makes difficult family decisions by artfully balancing opposing views before choosing his path. “On the one hand,” he intones, then ruminates on the important role tradition must play in the life of his village and family. “On the other hand,” he counters thoughtfully, then acknowledges that the inevitability of change must be factored into every decision.I’ve recalled Tevye’s internal monologue many times since May, when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a six-month national moratorium on enrolling new hospice agencies in Medicare. ...

Sixth Circuit clarifies Medicare safe harbor for hospice providers in landmark coverage decision JD Supra; by Jason Bring and Bill Dombi; 8/5/26 Key Takeaways

Private equity ownership in hospice care:  a systematic review (2012-2026) American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Denise D. Quigley, Shannon Walsh, Cordt T. Kassner, Lara Dhingra, Andrew W. Dick; 7/28/26 Hospice care is associated with improved end-of-life outcomes. Recent shifts in hospice utilization highlight several key trends. Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) (25%) have surpassed cancer (23%) as the leading primary diagnosis. Concurrently, industry ownership has transitioned from predominantly nonprofit to for-profit (70%) and private equity (PE) ownership has grown dramatically from 3% to 15%. To date, no study has synthesized evidence on PE ownership in hospice care.  We conducted a systematic review of English-language, peer-reviewed studies published 2012-2026, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

MatrixCare publishes their list of 2026 CAHPS Honors Elite and Honors Award winners MatrixCare, by ResMed; retrieved from the MatrixCare website on 8/11/26 For over 10 years, the prestigious HHCAHPS Honors and Hospice CAHPS Honors programs recognize agencies that excel in delivering positive patient experiences and high-quality care as measured by the Home Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HHCAHPS) and Hospice Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers (CAHPS) satisfaction scores. ... By highlighting agencies that excel in patient satisfaction and quality of care, these programs not only celebrate outstanding achievement, but also set standards of excellence within the industry. They inspire agencies to continually prioritize the patient and caregiver experiences—fostering trust, compassion, and innovation in home health and hospice services. [Read the list here.]Editor's Note: This list was selected and published by MatrixCare (a ResMed company), and is limited to their clients, only. MatrixCare's "Honors" status indicates scores above MatrixCare's National Performance scores for at least 17 of 22 measures; "Elite" status indicates scores above national averages for all 22 measures. Several other CAHPS approved vendors provide their own scoring and awards. CMS--itself--does not run an award program; it does publish official Care Compare measure scores. Congratulations to all organizations listed, especially the approximately 70 that reached MatrixCare's top "Honors Elite" tier.

Hospice physician: pain management growing more complex for families Hospice News; by James Warda; 8/7/26  When a patient starts to receive hospice care, families often expect to focus on making memories, finding comfort and spending meaningful time together. However, many instead find themselves making frantic phone calls to multiple pharmacies, driving across town to locate medications, or waiting days for prescriptions that should be readily available, with a patient in need at home. According to the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine’s (AAHPM) Board of Directors Secretary, Dr. Michael Barnett, a hospice physician and former inpatient palliative care physician, this growing challenge is becoming an all-too-common part of end-of-life care.

National Alliance for Care at Home responds to FY 2027 Hospice Final RuleNational Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA; Press Release; 7/30/26The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) today responded to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) fiscal year (FY) 2027 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update final rule, which finalizes payment and regulatory changes under the Medicare hospice benefit.CMS finalized a 2.3% payment update to the Medicare hospice benefit, which continues to fall short of the rising labor and supply costs required to deliver high-quality hospice care. As demand for hospice services continues to grow, payment updates must more accurately reflect providers’ costs so that access to these essential services does not decline. “CMS’s 2.3% payment update does not reflect the true cost of delivering hospice care and adds further strain to providers who are already stretched thin,” said Jennifer Sheets, CEO of the Alliance. “Compounding that pressure is a Service and Spending Variation Index built on a fundamentally flawed methodology that penalizes legitimate providers for non-hospice claims they have no visibility into nor control over, with no process to review or correct the data before it is made public. This is not a sound approach to program integrity. An inadequate payment update combined with an unreliable oversight tool creates a serious and growing burden for legitimate providers working to serve their communities.”