Literature Review

Transforming healthcare: Hospice in the news, March 2025  Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); pod/videocast by Chris Comeaux with Cordt Kassner; 4/2/25 In this episode of TCNtalks, Chris Comeaux and Dr. Cordt Kassner, Publisher of Hospice & Palliative Care Today and CEO and Founder of Hospice Analytics, leverage their data and extensive experience to identify key Hospice headlines, articles, research, and social media posts that are driving change and transforming end-of-life care and healthcare in America. They share personal experiences with hospice care, emphasizing the importance of social work and discussing the challenges of healthcare reimbursement.  The conversation also touches on MedPAC recommendations, new social media trends, and highlights from recent research articles. 

‘Unsung backbone of care delivery’: The growing need for hospice aides Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 3/28/25 As workforce shortages persist in health care, some operators are struggling to recruit and retain essential members of their care teams — hospice aides. The demand for hospice aides is expected to grow in the coming years. However, factors such as turnover, retirement, slow wage growth and immigration policy could complicate hospice’s ability to fill those positions. Many companies are focused on bolstering their nursing workforce, who are also in high demand, but providers also need to prioritize hiring a sufficient number of aides, according to Cooper Linton, associate vice president of Duke HomeCare & Hospice. [Continue reading ...] 

What to know about palliative and hospice care Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ); by Liz Seegert; 3/28/25 ... [Palliative care] is fundamental to health and human dignity and is a basic human right, according to the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard.  When reporting on serious illnesses, journalists can help demystify palliative care and encourage more people in need to take advantage of it by clearly explaining the differences, and benefits, and incorporating anecdotes to further illustrate how these types of care make a difference in the lives of patients and their families. [Continue reading ...] Editor's note: Share this article--written for health care journalists--with your communications and marketing leadership, with your community newspapers' journalists, and your employee/volunteer educators. Too often, new hospice/palliative care employees at all levels of roles and responsibilities begin their roles without clear knowledge, comprehension, and application of distinctions between standard healthcare, palliative care, and hospice care. And for new employees (especially non-clinical leaders), information must be applied to that person's specific role and responsibilities. 

Today is the National Vietnam War Veterans Day, honoring 50 years since the war's end U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs - The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration Join us on 29 March, National Vietnam War Veterans Day, as Americans unite to thank and honor Vietnam veterans and their families for their service and sacrifice. ... The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration honors all veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces at any time from November 1, 1955 to May 15, 1975, regardless of location, and their families. Editor's note: Several hospice "We Honor Veterans" programs have been using this commemoration to thank their community's Vietnam veterans, especially in light of differences between their returns home from those of WWII veterans. Within your networks of colleagues, friends and families, whom can you informally honor, today?

Executive Personnel Changes - 4/4/25 Count

Dr. Oz nomination to lead CMS advances in Senate vote    Modern Healthcare; by Michael McAuliff; 4/3/25 The Senate on Thursday advanced the confirmation of former television host Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead the nation's largest healthcare agencies by serving as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Lawmakers voted 50 to 45 to advance the nomination to a final vote, which is expected Thursday afternoon.  ... He will assume control of an agency in flux that impacts some 160 million Americans and with a budget of around $1.7 trillion. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is attempting to cut some 20,000 employees across the the Health and Human Services Department while Congress is weighing budget proposals that are likely to require deep cuts in Medicaid. [Continue reading ...]

HHS Job Cuts: FDA, CDC, NIH and CMS impacted amidst significant restructurings JD Supra; by Cate Baskin, James Kim, Stuart Pape, Angela Powers, Ryan Thurber; 3/31/25 On March 27, 2025, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a “dramatic restructuring” that will result in a reduction in agency workforce combined with significant internal restructuring. ... In connection with this restructuring, the Administration announced the following changes:

Mass layoffs hit workers at HHS; sweeping cuts extend to CDC, NIH, FDA: Recap USA Today; by Sarah D. Wire, Josh Meyer, Bart Jansen, Ken Alltucker, Cybele Mayes-Osterman, Eduardo Cuevas, Sudiksha Kochi, Adrianna Rodriguez and Terry Collins; 4/1/25Mass layoffs began Tuesday at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at the Food and Drug Administration, the first steps in a plan to cut 10,000 jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services. The department responsible for overseeing protection for Americans' health, food and drug supplies and Medicare and Medicaid is also closing its internal agencies that are focused on older adults and people with disabilities. It's also getting rid of its offices tackling HIV and improving minority health. Staff had to present their badges at the building entrance and those who had been fired were given a ticket and told to return home. More than 100,000 federal workers have already lost their jobs in the last two months as part of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's efforts to shrink staffing levels in federal departments and agencies. Tens of thousands more are expected as more agencies implement their reduction in force, or RIF, plans in the coming weeks.

Awards and Recognitions: March 2025

Disparities in end-of-life symptom burden linked to complex interplay among wealth, health, and social supportJAMA Network Open; by Peter A. Boling; 3/25On average, US health care spending in the last year of life alone was $80,000, with 12% ($9,500) being out of pocket and mostly incurred before the final 6 months. This problem worsened in the past decade when the nonspecific diagnosis of failure to thrive was removed as a condition eligible for hospice care and more stringent definitions were applied for dementia, which became the next bubble as the hospice balloon was squeezed. Hospice care is a means of reducing symptom burden, but the Medicare payment model discourages prolonged enrollment during slowly progressing advanced chronic illness and effectively limits funding of social support during hospice care, which is particularly problematic for patients with cognitive and functional impairment and for their friends and families. Considering suffering as a medical condition warranting treatment rather than a social problem requiring support services might help with the evolution of a Medicare policy that might provide a more graduated approach to end-of-life care.

Daughter embraces mom’s hospice journey City Sun Times, Phoenix, AZ; by Lin Sue Flood; 3/25/25 As a nurse, Robin Benton is used to caring for people who are ill. But it’s different when your mother is the one who is sick. Her mom, Charlotte Brewer, a former nurse herself, has multiple myeloma, a rare type of blood cancer. In March 2024, the 80-year-old Valley resident decided to stop curative treatments in favor of comfort care with Hospice of the Valley, where she worked for over 10 years, before retiring in 2007. ... Charlotte’s Hospice of the Valley nurse, Kelly Langston, admires the way the family is living this stage of life with great intention, creating new ways to deepen their love for each other. “They came up with an idea for a hug shirt,” shared Kelly. “Everyone in the family painted their arms then took turns hugging each other — stamping an imprint of encircled arms on the shirts. It’s a way to feel each other’s hugs even when they aren’t together.” [Continue reading ...]

National Alliance’s Scott Levy: Hospices need ‘regulatory relief’ to protect ‘sacred benefit’ Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 3/21/25 The hospice industry is undergoing a transformative period of rising demand and regulatory changes. Providers of all sizes and types are facing mounting operational challenges and financial strains with limited recourse to voice their collective concerns to legislators. This is according to Scott Levy, chief government affairs officer at National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance). Levy stepped into the role earlier this year after holding a similar position at Amedisys. He has been involved in government relations, public policy, advocacy and law for more than 20 years. Levy recently sat down with Hospice News to discuss the array of regulatory and legislative evolutions on the horizon in hospice care delivery.  .[Continue reading ...]

CMS will not resume implementation of Hospice SFP in 2025 Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 3/25/25 A federal court has ordered a stay on litigation intended to block the hospice Special Focus Program (SFP) after the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) pledged that it would not resume implementation during 2025. The crux of a lawsuit filed by hospice organizations against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the criteria that the agency uses to select hospices for the new Special Focus Program (SFP). [Continue reading ...]