Literature Review

VITAS Hospice Services faces serious data breach investigation Investors Hangout; by Evelyn Baker; 12/9/25 ... In a significant turn of events, VITAS Hospice Services, LLC, the largest for-profit hospice chain in the United States, is facing scrutiny due to a massive data breach. Recent investigations revealed that sensitive information of 319,177 patients was compromised, raising concerns over data security and patient privacy. As investigations continue, more details about the breach are emerging, prompting calls for accountability from the company.

Inside TRU Thrift’s Giving Room: How Boulder donations reach neighbors in need The Gazette, Boulder, CO; by Tricia Stortz; 12/6/25 In the back of TRU Community Care’s Thrift Shop in Boulder, past racks of winter coats and holiday decor, there’s a doorway most shoppers never notice. Step through it, and you enter the Giving Room, a bustling, volunteer-run operation where nearly nothing goes to waste and where unsold items find new purpose across Boulder County. The space is compact, but the impact is wide. More than 30 local partner organizations – from homeless outreach teams to youth programs, animal shelters, mobility-assistance nonprofits and more – rely on the items flowing through this little room. Editor's Note: Calling all hospice organizations that have a thrift shop, read on!

Hospice SLO County announces move to new location Paso Robles Daily News, Paso Robles, CA; by News Staff; 12/3/25 Hospice of San Luis Obispo County says its new location improves visibility and long-term stability. The new, smaller facility will continue to be known as the Dorothy D. Rupe Center. The name honors the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation and the legacy that helped establish the organization’s first permanent home in 2001. Hospice of San Luis Obispo County said the move reflects a step toward sustainability by providing a more visible and efficient space while maintaining its existing environment.

Bipartisan senators: Keep hospice out of Medicare Advantage Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 11/21/25 Two U.S. Senators have penned a letter to congressional leadership urging them to oppose any measures to bring hospice reimbursement into Medicare Advantage. Sens. Dr. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) circulated the letter on Thursday, addressed to Senate leaders from both major political parties, as well as the chair and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. 

Can tech restore the human side of care? Becker's Health IT; by Ella Jeffries; 11/14/25 Technology has been both a promise and a problem in healthcare. When EHRs arrived in hospitals, they were heralded as a revolution — bringing order to messy paper charts and standardizing how care was documented. But soon after, clinicians found themselves staring more at screens than at the patients sitting in front of them. Now, nurse leaders say the very systems that once distanced them from patients could hold the key to rebuilding that connection.

Health system C-suites ‘knee deep’ in generative AI Becker's Health IT; by Laura Dyrda; 11/12/25 ... During the AI Summit at Becker’s 13th Annual CEO+CFO Roundtable, leaders from health systems and technology companies shared what they’ve learned from deploying generative AI at scale — from building predictive models to redesigning governance and culture.

Hospice: Track errors, payment caps to avoid facing costly penalties Home Health Line, DecisionHealth; by MaryKent Wolff; 11/13/25 Keep a close eye on possible claim and billing mistakes that could lead to issues related to your payment cap. While increased revenue may seem like a good thing for providers, overpayments could lead to heightened scrutiny and financial hardships for your agency. [May require subscription for additional information]

Applied transformation in healthcare: From digital dreams to operational reality | Viewpoint Chief Healthcare Executive - Opinion; by Clay Holderman; 11/17/25 Healthcare’s digital transformation journey has entered a new, more demanding phase. No longer is it enough to simply adopt technology. Health systems are now expected to show tangible results: stronger margins, better patient access, and improved outcomes are under greater pressure than ever before. ... Here are three key insights from our analysis, and what healthcare leaders can do to make progress real.

New hospice provider opens in Corydon CorydonDemocrat.com, Corydon, IN; Press Release; 11/5/25 Heart to Heart Hospice, one of the country’s largest private providers of hospice care, is expanding its service area in Southern Indiana with the opening of a new location in Corydon to meet needs in six additional counties. The new site, located at 113 N. Oak St., will serve patients and families who reside in Harrison, Floyd, Washington, Clark, Scott and Jefferson counties.

Attorney General Bonta secures felony sentencing of Inland Empire Hospice operators for Medicare and Medi-Cal fraud  Rob Bonta - Office of the Attorney General, California Government; Press Release; 11/5/25 California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced the sentencing of Inland Empire Hospice operators, Ralph and Rochell Canales, for submitting false claims to the Medicare and Medi-Cal programs. Ralph was sentenced by the San Bernardino County Court to seven years and four months in state prison and was jointly ordered to pay $1,455,233, alongside his wife Rochell Canales. Rochelle was sentenced to one year in jail, and ordered to abstain from working with Medicare and Medi-Cal beneficiaries ...

If you treat AI like software, you’ll miss the real transformation Forbes; by Nirit Cohen; 11/2/25 ... When employees work with AI, ownership blurs. Who is responsible for an outcome — the person, the model, or both? Who retrains the system when it learns the wrong lesson? Who decides when to trust a recommendation and when to challenge it? These are not IT questions; they’re questions for the people closest to the work — the ones who understand how value is actually created. This is why the biggest risk isn’t technical. It’s human. 

Kalos Health shutters amid Medicaid changes Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 10/29/25 Kalos Health Inc. is closing amid changes to Medicaid reimbursement. The change could challenge access to home-based services for chronically ill adults in western New York. The nonprofit provided health insurance coverage across six counties in New York through a Medicaid managed long-term care (MLTC) plan. Since 2014, the plan has coordinated with regional health care providers to serve adults with chronic illness and health disabilities. Kalos Health is part of The Hospice and Palliative Care Group (HPCG), an organization that provides administrative services. Other providers in the group include Niagara Hospice, Liberty Home Care, Hospice of Orleans and The Niagara Hospice Alliance.  

After her son’s painful death, a Cheshire mother highlights Connecticut’s pediatric hospice gap New Haven Register, Norwalk, CT; by Cris Villalonga-Vivoni; 10/26/25 Carolyn Torello believes that no parent should outlive their children, yet that became her reality. ...  As his condition worsened, the family faced his impending death without the support of pediatric palliative or hospice care. No provider, she said, seemed to know how to help or where to begin. He died at 15 years old in 2021. ... In 2020, an estimated 7,800 children in Connecticut were living with complex medical conditions that limited their life expectancy and could have benefited from palliative or hospice care, according to data from the National Survey of Children's Health. ... Torello thinks that if Michael had access to hospice care, he could have died with greater dignity, and their family could have focused on simply being together. ... Efforts to create a more formalized pediatric palliative care system have been underway since 2024, led by a state-commissioned working group that will make recommendations to the legislature on potential reforms.